After months of waiting, the final verdict has been handed down in the appeal trial for embezzlement of public funds concerning the employment of European parliamentary assistants by the Rassemblement National. The court imposed a heavy sentence on Marine Le Pen and her party. The outcome of the trial clarifies the path forward for France’s leading opposition party, which will now likely be represented by its president, Jordan Bardella, in the upcoming presidential election. The heavy financial penalties will place an even greater burden on a party already shunned by banks.
The hearing began in Paris on Tuesday, July 7th, at 1:30 p.m. From the outset, the presiding judge emphasized the “seriousness” of the charges against the “far-right” party: the misappropriation of public funds through the use of European funds to pay parliamentary assistants employed by the European Parliament but assigned to national tasks in the party’s interest. This situation allegedly created an “inequality” compared to other political parties. The court’s only concession was its acknowledgment that Le Pen had not personally enriched herself. The hearing adjourned very quickly after the sentences were read.
The alleged offences spanned the period from 2004 to 2016, with a particular focus on the period from 2009 to 2016, which specifically corresponded to Le Pen’s term as an MEP.
Only 12 of the 25 defendants convicted at the trial court level were retried on appeal. Among them were Marine Le Pen, as well as Louis Aliot, a former MEP and the current mayor of Perpignan; Julien Odoul, a member of the National Assembly and a former parliamentary assistant; and Wallerand de Saint-Just, the party’s former treasurer. In February, the prosecution had sought a four-year prison sentence for Marine Le Pen—including one year to be served without probation—and a five-year ban on holding elected office, with no provisional enforcement. Following the appellate ruling, Le Pen, the former president of the Front National—the name formerly used by the Rassemblement National—was sentenced to three years in prison, two of which are suspended and one without parole, to be served under electronic monitoring, along with 45 months of ineligibility to hold public office, 15 of which without parole, and a fine of €100,000. The Rassemblement National, as a legal entity, was ordered by the court to pay a fine of €2 million—with one million suspended—and to forfeit €1 million. In the context of the already heavy financial constraint on the party, this conviction is going to make things much harder for the presidential campaign.
Strictly speaking, Le Pen has already served her 15-month ineligibility period due to the immediate enforcement of the March 31st, 2025, ruling. The presiding judge further clarified during the deliberations that the imposition of this sentence—which had already been served—was “compatible with the fundamental guarantees afforded to citizens” so as not to undermine the “principle of freedom of candidacy, an essential condition for the democratic expression of universal suffrage.” With this statement, the court sought to put an end to accusations of a “judiciary under orders” or a partisan verdict intended to hinder the political career of an opponent.
Le Pen will nonetheless have to wear an electronic ankle monitor for one year—perhaps less, if sentence reductions are granted. Uncertainty remains regarding the exact terms of this sentence. This verdict is expected to definitively seal her fate regarding the upcoming presidential election. Marine Le Pen had been very clear on this point: she would not campaign while wearing an electronic tag. It would have been too good an opportunity for the press and her political opponents to denounce a miscarriage of justice.
It is therefore the young Jordan Bardella who, in all likelihood, will be tasked with representing the party in the 2027 presidential campaign, though this will need to be formally confirmed in the coming hours during Le Pen’s televised address scheduled for the 8 p.m. national news.
A little over a month ago, a similar investigation into parliamentary aides from La France Insoumise was dismissed, and Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of the far-left party, was not indicted. It is hard not to see, in this case, a double standard in the treatment of the two parties.
