French opposition leader Marine Le Pen has been barred from running for political office following her conviction — along with several others in France’s Right-leaning National Rally Party — on charges of embezzling public funds.
The charges against Le Pen involved funding from the European Parliament to her party — some of which prosecutors said she had used to pay her own personal assistant and bodyguard.
Prosecutors asked that Le Pen receive two years in prison and five years of political ineligibility — the latter ensuring that she would not be able to run for president in 2027, a race she is currently favored to win.
Le Pen, who claimed prior to her sentencing that barring her from running would amount to “political death,” came in second to current French President Emmanuel Macron in the last two elections, and her party has been steadily gaining support. She argued…
