BREAKING: The court reduces Le Pen’s sentence and opens the door for her to be a candidate with an electronic bracelet | International
Global Update:
Global attention remains focused on this evolving story as officials and analysts assess the broader implications.
Marine Le Pen breathed a partial sigh of relief this Tuesday. Also her party, terrified with the idea that the historic leader of the far-right National Regroupment (RN) would be disqualified and would not be able to run in the 2027 presidential elections. The Paris appeal court reduced the penalty of disqualification of the politician to 15 months, which will allow her to attend the elections for the fourth consecutive time. The sentence, however, does maintain Le Pen’s electronic bracelet for one year, which would force her to carry out the electoral campaign under those conditions. And that was, precisely, one of the situations for which he assured that he would not appear and would hand over to his dolphin, Jordan Bardella. The court reduces the disqualification sentences for the 11 defendants. In the case of Le Pen, the verdict places it at 15 months, which are considered to have already been completed since the sentence was issued in the first instance. The path, in that sense, is clear. But it imposes the obligation to wear an electronic bracelet for one year. A penalty that, according to some sources, could be reduced over the course of the sentence for good behavior. The court thus extends the suspense and shakes off the heavy responsibility of ruling on whether or not Le Pen can run for office. It pacifies the social panorama and avoids hypothetical accusations of lawfare, of interference in politics. If the leader of the RN wants to attend the elections, it is clear from the sentence, she will be able to. But she will have to assess for herself whether it is appropriate for a potential president of the Republic to attend campaign rallies with an electronic condemned bracelet or if she could take office at the Elysée Palace with that device. An unconstructive image for a power like France. The sentence, which the defense described as “partially satisfactory,” is a legal filigree that leaves no room for interpretations about the guilt of the RN leader in the system that for more than a decade served to divert millions of euros from the European Parliament for the use of her party. But it opens up a range of grays that only Le Pen can clear up. The leader of the RN will speak this Tuesday, at eight in the afternoon, in an interview on the TF1 network, where she is expected to resolve the doubt she now has about her immediate future. Will she agree to be a candidate wearing an electronic bracelet and going against her word? In March 2025, Le Pen, 57, was found guilty of embezzlement of public funds by a French court, with a sentence of four years in prison – two of them firm, with an electronic bracelet – and a five-year political disqualification. The sentence, which prevented him from running for public office and was immediately applicable, was appealed, but the Prosecutor’s Office barely modified its request to the Court of Appeal: four years in prison, one year in prison, with an electronic bracelet, and five years of disqualification. The RN has tried to convey calm in recent months. The widespread theory was that the ultra party was prepared for any scenario. If Le Pen was disqualified, the party’s vice president, Jordan Bardella, 30, would take over. The problem, all the leading cadres observed, is that their way of approaching politics is much closer to the economic and business elites. The leader of the French far-right, Marine Le Pen, leaves the Paris court this Tuesday. Benoit Tessier (REUTERS) Le Pen has heard the sentence accompanied by 11 members of her party, such as the vice president and mayor of Perpignan, Louis Aliot. All of them charged, but relieved of their original sentences. He smiled, talking to them during the tense wait for the verdict. Bardella, however, the man who was waiting for a verdict to know if he would be the candidate for the 2027 elections, settled for watching it on television, as he had watched politics all his life before events accelerated and he became Marine Le Pen’s unexpected dolphin. The matriarch of the clan did not want her Bardella to be in the room or nearby, perhaps trying to preserve his image as a future candidate. Also, some consider, leaving some space between the two at a time when the relationship has cooled. After hearing the sentence, without commenting anything to the press, who were waiting at the entrance to the imposing appeal court in Paris, he went to the party headquarters, where he will be able to meet with Bardella and draw up a strategy that he will reveal this Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. on television.
What Happens Next:
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Source: This article was originally published by Internacional en EL PAÍS and adapted for our international English-speaking audience.
Read the original article here.