CNN: French right leader Marine Le Pen to run for presidency despite losing court appeal

Marine Le Pen leaves the Paris Court of Appeal after the court upheld her conviction in Paris
Photo: AP

French right leader Marine Le Pen said Tuesday she would run for president in the 2027 election after an appeals court ⁠upheld her conviction for misusing EU funds, CNN reports.

“There is no longer any scenario in which I could not run in 2027,” she told the broadcaster. “Otherwise, Sir, I would not be here this evening to tell you that I am a candidate in the presidential election.”

The court ruled that Le Pen must serve a three-year jail term; however, it said two of those years were suspended and it ordered her to serve one year at home with an electronic monitoring tag.

Le Pen told TF1 that her further appeal to the Cour de Cassation — effectively the supreme court of France — would put her sentence on hold and she would be able to campaign without the ankle monitor.

Le Pen and her National Rally (RN) party have been leading in the polls. The first round of voting will be held in April and a second round in May.

Later on Tuesday Le Pen launched her campaign for the presidency on social media with the slogan: “For France, a Renaissance.”

“We launch this presidential campaign tonight to work toward the rebirth of France,” she wrote. “Jordan Bardella (RN’s official leader) and I will be together throughout this presidential campaign, as we have been for years.”

The 2027 race was already shaping up to be one of the most uncertain and consequential in recent French history even before the appeals process froze, for more than a year, the question of whether the woman widely considered a favorite would be able to run at all.

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