Marine Le Pen guilty in embezzlement case, still eyes French presidency

Paris,UPDATED: Jul 8, 2026 02:42 IST

A Paris appeals court on Tuesday found far-right leader Marine Le Pen guilty of embezzlement and ordered that she be placed under electronic monitoring as part of her punishment, a measure that is widely used in France partly to ease prison overcrowding.

Le Pen, however, said she would still run for the French presidency next year despite the verdict, which is allowed under French law. She said she does not expect to wear an electronic bracelet because she believes France's highest court will clear her on appeal before the election.

The Court of Cassation had earlier said it would be able to rule before the presidential election. If Le Pen's appeal fails, she could be required to wear the monitor during the campaign. Under French law, home detention requires a person to wear an electronic ankle monitor or bracelet and bars them from leaving their home or another designated residence except during hours authorised by a judge. The court or the judge responsible for enforcing sentences decides the place of residence and the periods during which the person must remain there.

French prisons are overcrowded and conditions in detention have worsened, according to the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture. Electronic monitoring is used in part to avoid adding to that problem. While such a device can make a political campaign difficult, it does not make one impossible.

If Le Pen's conviction is upheld, a specialised judge will decide how the monitoring is to be carried out, where she must serve the sentence and the hours when she may leave. The appeals court said that, "during the period of sentence adjustment, the convicted person may be eligible for sentence reductions of up to six months per year", and even conditional release.

France will hold the first round of its next presidential election on April 18. If no candidate wins a majority, a runoff will be held two weeks later, on May 2. "The appeals court has decided to make a (presidential) bid possible, so the decision must be respected," said Celine Bertetto, president of the national association of sentence enforcement judges. "Regarding sentence reductions: For a one-year sentence, there can be a six-month reduction, but she must comply with the permitted hours of movement and pay the criminal fine," Bertetto added.

Le Pen, 57, a veteran of three presidential races, had said last week that she would not run for president next year if the appeals court ordered her to wear an electronic monitor. After the ruling, she changed that position and said she believed she would not be subjected to monitoring at all. "We are innocent of the acts we are accused of," she said. "These acts cannot be classified as embezzlement of public funds."

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy wore an electronic ankle monitor last year after being convicted to a year in prison in a corruption case. He was filmed going out for a jog while wearing the device and was granted conditional release after just over three months, allowing him to remove it. French media had reported at the time that he was allowed to leave home between 8 am and 8 pm, with the permission extended until 9.30 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays so that he could attend a separate trial. The Le Pen case has again drawn attention to how electronic monitoring works in France and how it could affect a presidential campaign if her appeal does not succeed.

With PTI Inputs

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