On Wednesday, July 9th, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rejected a request by Marine Le Pen to suspend her ineligibility sentence. The appeal followed her conviction earlier this year in a case involving European Parliament funds paid to parliamentary assistants who also did work for the Rassemblement National (RN) party.
In March, Le Pen was sentenced to four years in prison, along with a €100,000 fine and a five-year ineligibility from holding public office. The sentence means she will be barred from standing in the 2027 presidential election.
As head of the RN group in the French National Assembly, she had filed an emergency appeal to the ECHR, arguing the punishment violated her fundamental rights. The Court declined to intervene.
