The appeal trial of the leader of the French far-right, Marine Le Pen, for the alleged embezzlement of funds from the European Parliament ends this Wednesday, February 11, with a question that looms over all the others: will she be able to run for the Presidency next year? The political leader is trying to challenge a 2025 verdict that found her and more than 20 members of her party guilty in the case.
First modification: 02/11/2026 - 17:28 Last modification: 02/11/2026 - 19:33
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End of the appeal trial that has the candidacy of the far-right leader, Marine Le Pen, in the 2027 presidential elections hanging in the balance.
Le Pen's lawyers asked for her acquittal, alleging her good faith, this Wednesday, February 11.
"If what he did at that time constitutes a crime, he does not have the sense to have committed it," declared lawyer Sandra Chirac-Kollarik, the first to appear in court, rejecting the charge of embezzlement of public funds for which the Pas-de-Calais MP was found guilty in the first instance in March 2025.
Le Pen, 57, and more than 20 people from her political party called the National Front at the time – renamed the National Rally – were found guilty in a March 2025 verdict of misappropriating European Parliament funds in the hiring of advisers between 2004 and 2016.
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That ruling disqualified Le Pen from holding public office for five years, which she is now trying to challenge.
Reiterating an argument already presented repeatedly by the defense, the lawyer considered the institution's rules in this matter to be unclear. "At no time could Marine Le Pen imagine that she was breaking the rules," he insisted.
Closing arguments by Sandra Chirac-Kollarik and Rodolphe Bosselut marked the end of four weeks of hearings. The appeals court will announce its decision on Le Pen's ineligibility on July 7.
Read alsoFrench prosecutor requests five years of disqualification against Marine Le Pen from holding public office
Bardella is seen as Le Pen's successor in the race for the Presidency
A ratification of Marine Le Pen's five-year disqualification from holding any position, in accordance with the request of the Prosecutor's Office, would prevent her from accessing the Elysee Palace, forcing her to hand over her position to the president of the National Group, Jordan Bardella.
The top leader of the far-right party has repeatedly stated that she will make her decision once the appeal verdict is known, without waiting for the result of a possible appeal to the Court of Cassation.
In addition to the disqualification from holding public office, the prosecutor requested on February 3 a sentence of four years in prison, including one year of mandatory imprisonment with an electronic device, and a fine of 100,000 euros. He also requested that the other defendants who had appealed be resentenced.
Le Pen denies accusations that she was at the center of a fraudulent scheme aimed at diverting funds from the European Union.
The political leader managed to qualify twice in the second round of the presidential elections, in 2017 and 2022, on both occasions against the current president Emmanuel Macron, against whom she saw her objective frustrated.
However, he now appears to have a better chance, as the far right grows stronger in Europe and his National Rally party has led opinion polls in recent years.
Read alsoThe appeal trial against Le Pen's conviction for corruption begins; his presidential candidacy for 2027 hangs by a thread
With Reuters and AP
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