July 21, 2026, 9:21 p.mJuly 21, 2026, 9:21 p.m
Image: keystone
France’s right-wing nationalist Marine Le Pen has appealed against her conviction for embezzling EU funds as announced. French media reported this with reference to the judiciary. A one-year prison sentence with an ankle bracelet imposed by an appeal court will therefore not be enforced for the time being. Le Pen can therefore start the election campaign for the presidential election next spring unhindered, as she planned. After the appeal ruling, the public prosecutor decided not to appeal.
The Court of Cassation had announced that it would rule on Le Pen’s appeal by the beginning of April at the latest and thus before the start of the presidential election. The first round of elections is scheduled for April 18 and the second round for May 2, 2027. Whether Le Pen ultimately threatens to wear an ankle bracelet before the election depends on two factors.
Election campaign with ankle bracelets?
On the one hand, the Court of Cassation would have to approve the judgment of the appeal court, which would make the punishment legally binding. It would also have to make its decision much earlier before the election. Because a sentencing judge would only decide on the date and modalities for putting on an ankle bracelet a few weeks after the verdict became final.
If the right-wing nationalist has been elected president by then, she would then enjoy immunity and the punishment could only be carried out after her term in office. The appeal court had already removed another obstacle for the right-wing nationalist party. It deprived her of the right to stand for election – i.e. the opportunity to run for office – for just 15 months, a sentence that Le Pen has already served since the verdict in the first instance. In the first instance, the court revoked her right to stand for election for five years and with immediate effect.
What the chances are that Le Pen will actually be elected president next year also depends very much on who enters the race for the other political camps. But these have not yet been clearly sorted out – with the exception of France’s Left Party, for which its leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon is once again running. However, Le Pen’s chances of making it into the runoff are quite good. It has been clearly ahead in the surveys for months with over 30 percent. (sda/dpa)