Le Pen confirms that she will run for President of France, despite conviction and wearing an ankle bracelet

Marine Le Pen, leader of France's extreme right, after the release of the exit results of the second round of the country's legislative elections
Sarah Meyssonnier/Reuters
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen announced this Tuesday (7) her candidacy for the French presidential election in 2027, despite a conviction for embezzlement of public resources that forced her to wear an electronic ankle bracelet for a year.
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"Tonight I am a candidate for the presidential election", declared Le Pen to broadcaster TF1, when announcing an appeal against the sentence which, in her opinion, will allow her to campaign without the electronic ankle bracelet, by suspending its application.
The 57-year-old politician regained the right to run for President after a decision by the Paris Court of Appeal which, although it upheld her conviction for embezzlement of European public resources, reduced the penalty of ineligibility.
Use of ankle bracelet
Earlier, the French appeals court confirmed Le Penn's conviction, but opened the way for her to run in the 2027 presidential election.
The sentence was determined at three years in prison, two of which were suspended and one will be served in an open regime, using an electronic ankle bracelet.
The decision also reduced the period of ineligibility to 45 months, of which 30 were suspended. As Le Pen has already served most of the remaining 15 months since her conviction - handed down in 2025 - she will be able to run in the French presidential elections scheduled for April 2027.
Le Penn was found guilty of embezzling 1.4 million euros from the European Parliament intended for hiring parliamentary advisors.
According to the indictment, between 2004 and 2016, she and other members of her party used European Union money to pay employees who, in practice, worked for the party in France, and not in activities linked to the European Parliament.
The original sentence was criticized by Le Pen's allies, who accused the Judiciary of interfering in the democratic dispute. His opponents argued that elected representatives must respond to justice under the same rules applied to any other citizen.
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Source: G1