PARIS (AP) — French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has denounced as “a democratic scandal” the court ruling that placed a five-year ban on her seeking public office for embezzling European Union funds. The Paris court says it would be undemocratic to allow a convicted official to run for president.
Monday’s decision takes effect immediately and likely bars Le Pen from participating in France’s next presidential election in 2027. She said she would appeal, but there’s no guarantee another court would rule more favorably, and appeals can take several years to conclude.
The ruling has reverberated beyond France, sending ripples through far-right circles across Europe after some parties, including Le Pen’s, have gained ground in recent years.
Le Pen is not the first high-profile political figure in France to be sentenced to ineligibility. Here’s a look at judicial system, the court’s motives for the ruling and previous decisions.
How the court justified its verdict
The three-judge panel said in a written statement they considered the “major disruption to democratic public order” by the election to the presidency of someone convicted of embezzlement.
The ruling is meant to ensure that “elected officials, like all other persons, do not benefit from preferential treatment, not compatible with the trust citizens seek in political life,” the judges said.
They called their decision “proportionate to the constitutional objectives of safeguarding public order.”
In France, judges are independent magistrates who have not been elected. Under the constitution, they cannot be removed from their posts.
Le Pen’s response
“The (judicial) system brought out the nuclear bomb,” Le Pen said Tuesday in the National Assembly, where she is a lawmaker. “And if it is using such a powerful weapon against us, it’s obviously because we’re about to win the elections.”
Le Pen denounced the ruling as “a democratic scandal, a real shame, staining our country.”
She said she hopes an appeal decision will come before the presidential election.
Le Pen herself once strongly denounced judicial scandals involving politicians from the mainstream left and right, calling for a “lifelong” ban on seeking office for those convicted for embezzlement.
In a 2013 video interview now viral on French social media, she can be heard saying, “We need to introduce the lifelong ineligibility for all those who have been convicted for actions committed thanks to or during their mandate.”
Previous cases
Three months before France’s 2017 presidential election, a scandal ruined conservative Prime Minister Francois Fillon’s chances to win. He later received a 10-year ban from seeking office in a fraud trial.
Former Prime Minister Alain Juppé, another conservative, received a 10-year ban in 2004 in a corruption case. An appeals court reduced the ban to one year. Juppé later made a comeback in French politics.
Socialist Budget Minister Jérôme Cahuzac received a five-year ban in 2018 after acknowledging that he was dodging taxes.
And Le Pen’s father, the late Jean-Marie Le Pen, was sentenced to a one-year ban for committing violence against a Socialist rival during the 1997 parliamentary campaign.
Last week, French prosecutors requested a seven-year prison sentence and a five-year period of ineligibility for former President Nicolas Sarkozy over charges that his 2007 presidential campaign was illegally financed by former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s government.
A Constitutional Council ruling
Last week, the Constitutional Council ruled that a period of ineligibility with immediate effect is in line with the constitution.
But it stressed that it’s up to the judges to assess the consequences of imposing such a ban right away and make sure the ruling is “proportionate” and takes into consideration “the preservation of voters’ freedom.”
The Constitutional Council ruled in a separate case with no direct link with Le Pen’s. But its conclusions have been scrutinized for legal guidance that judges are likely to take into consideration.
On Tuesday, Le Pen suggested she would ask the Constitutional Council to issue a decision in her case.
