Far-right leader Marine Le Pen arrives at National Rally president Jordan Bardella's New Year address to the press, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen goes to court Tuesday to appeal an embezzlement conviction, with her 2027 presidential ambitions hanging in the balance.
The appeal comes after a French court last year barred her from running for office for five years over a European Parliament fake-jobs scam involving her and other officials from her National Rally party.
The three-time presidential candidate was also handed a four-year prison sentence, with two years suspended, and fined 100,000 euros ($116,000).
Le Pen, 57, who has always maintained her innocence, is now appealing in hopes of clearing the way for a fourth bid to become president.
The hearing is expected to last a month, with a decision expected this summer.
If the court upholds the first ruling, she will be barred from running in the 2027 election, widely seen as her best — and possibly last — chance to win the country's top job.
She could however still be a candidate if she is sentenced to a shorter ban, and no time to serve under house arrest.
Twelve of the accused, as well as the party itself, have appealed the verdict, including RN deputy party leader Louis Aliot.
Another 12 people — including one of Le Pen's sisters — have however decided to accept their convictions without appealing. Another person sentenced has since died.
'Political decision'
The initial verdict dealt a heavy blow to Le Pen and the RN, which has surged in French politics in recent years.
The court found her guilty, along with 24 former members of European parliament, assistants and accountants as well as the party itself, of operating a "system" from 2004 to 2016 using EU Parliament funds to employ RN employees in France.
Le Pen walked out of the courtroom during the sentencing, later slamming the verdict as a "political decision".
The judges defended the decision to bar her from running, saying elected officials should not benefit from "preferential treatment" and citing the risk of reoffending.
The news sparked shock waves in France but also in certain quarters around the world, with the likes of President Donald Trump and the Kremlin expressing concern.
Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon last week said he hoped Le Pen could run despite her legal troubles so her election could help "break" the European Union.
'Deeply worrying'
Le Pen took over the former National Front (FN) from her father Jean-Marie Le Pen in 2011 and has since sought to clean up the party's image. Her father, who died in January, was often accused of making racist and antisemitic comments.
After coming third in the 2012 presidential polls, Marine Le Pen made the run-off in 2017 and 2022 but was beaten by Emmanuel Macron on both occasions.
Yet 2027 could see a different outcome for the far right, with Macron barred from standing again under France's constitution.
Some 42 percent of French people said they agreed with "ideas defended by the RN", up from 29 percent before the 2022 vote, according to a poll by consultancy firm Verian for Le Monde published on Sunday.
If she cannot be a candidate, Le Pen has said her top lieutenant Jordan Bardella — the RN party's president who is not a defendant in the trial — can run in her place.
"Bardella can win instead of me," Le Pen said in December.
A poll in November predicted that Bardella — who is the RN party chief and not among those accused — would win the second round of the 2027 elections, no matter who stands against him.
But Bardella said on Monday that a ruling preventing Le Pen from running "would be deeply worrying for democracy", and insisted he was not so far a candidate for president but prime minister.
