Le Pen blames European Parliament in appeal that could decide political fate

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen told a Paris court she hoped her conviction for embezzlement of EU funds would be overturned, saying she had “no feeling of having committed a crime.”

Le Pen, 57, was found guilty last year of hiring aides who worked on affairs for her party, the National Rally, rather than for the European Parliament (EP) which paid them.

“The EP did not play its alarm role as it should have done,” she told judges at the start of an appeal against a conviction banning her from running for public office for five years.

If the ban is upheld, she will not be able to run in the 2027 presidential election.

The trial before the Paris Court of Appeal will last until February 12 but a judgment is not expected before the summer.

Last year’s case centered on accusations that Le Pen, along with more than 20 other senior party officials, used European Parliament funding to pay National Rally staff in France.

Le Pen was sentenced to four years in prison – with two years suspended and the other two to be served with a microchip rather than in custody. She was fined €100,000 (£82,635) and banned from running for public office “with immediate effect”.

More than 20 RN figures were also found guilty during last year’s trial and the party was fined 2 million euros, half of which was suspended.

Eleven of Le Pen’s colleagues are participating in the Paris appeal, but twelve have decided not to contest the initial verdicts, including her sister Yann Le Pen who was given a one-year suspended prison sentence.

As Le Pen stood, presiding judge Michèle Agi opened the hearing by reading the charges and last year’s verdict.

The RN leader then returned to her place, in the company of some of the other co-defendants and her lawyers.

Judge Agi then read a report summarizing the facts of the case, after which Le Pen and her co-defendants took the stand.

“We have never hidden anything, neither in the publication of our organization charts, nor in the contracts submitted, nor in the numerous press articles,” affirmed the leader of the RN.

In the French legal system, an appeals court reviews the trial court’s decision in its entirety, including the facts and points of law.

Le Pen hopes the Paris appeals court will overturn last year’s verdict and allow her to run for France’s highest office for a fourth time.

A second possible outcome would be for the appeal committee to uphold the guilty verdict but remove the “immediate effect” clause. This would allow her to stand even if she decides to appeal to the highest court in the country – the Court of Cassation – to overturn the guilty verdict.

A third outcome could see appeals judges reduce the five-year ban enough to allow Le Pen to register before the March 2027 deadline.

And a fourth solution would be to leave the lower court decisions intact. This would make her candidacy virtually impossible, although she would still have to take the case to the Court of Cassation.

The fifth – which would permanently eliminate Le Pen from the race – would be for the initial conviction to be upheld and the sentence to be toughened. After all, the offense can be punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

With the presidential election expected to take place around April 2027, much will depend on the substance – as well as the timing – of the rulings.

The far-right leader has twice qualified for the runoff and many of her supporters believe she has a chance of winning if she is allowed to run next year.

On Monday, the president of his National Rally party, Jordan Bardella, said excluding him from the elections would be “deeply worrying for democracy.”

Bardella said he would not run for president but would instead seek the lower-ranking post of prime minister.

An opinion poll – published by the Le Monde newspaper on the eve of the call – suggested that Bardella might have a better chance of winning the French presidency – 49% to Le Pen’s 18%.