Far-right leader Marine Le Pen has been barred from holding office for five years after she was found guilty of embezzlement. The court’s decision ended her political dreams of running for the next French president’s post in 2027.

PARIS − French far-right leader Marine Le Pen was convicted of embezzlement on Monday and handed an immediate five-year ban from public office, a sentence that will bar her from running in the 2027 presidential race unless she successfully appeals beforehand.

The sentence made the far-right leader ineligible for five years, excluding her from the 2027 election unless she can secure a more favorable outcome on appeal.

PARIS—A French court convicted Marine Le Pen of misusing European Union funds, banning her from the next presidential election in a ruling that upends the country’s political landscape.Monday’s sentence bars Le Pen from seeking public office for the next five years,

The ban is the key issue for Le Pen’s political career, rather than the prison sentence or the fine, because under the French legal system a person is considered innocent until all their appeals are exhausted. Two years of the sentence could be served under surveillance wearing an ankle bracelet, while the two further years are suspended.

In a ruling that will shake both French and European politics, the Paris court ruled that Marine Le Pen is ineligible to run for any political office with immediate effect -- meaning she most likely is out of the presidential race that is scheduled to take place in the spring of 2027 at the latest.

French leader Marine Le Pen was found guilty of embezzling millions in EU funds, leading to a five-year ban from office.

Marine Le Pen says she will appeal against verdict and her five-year disqualification from public office ahead of presidential elections

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen on Monday slammed a "political decision" and insisted she had not abandoned hope of standing in presidential elections in 2027 after a court handed