PARIS (AFP) – A French appeals court said on Tuesday it would hear Marine Le Pen's case in a time frame that could potentially allow the far-right leader to run in the 2027 presidential election if her conviction is overturned.
In a ruling that many commentators called a political earthquake, Le Pen was sentenced to prison and fined on Monday after being found guilty of running a fraudulent scheme to recruit members of the European Parliament.
But the most serious part of the sentence was a five-year ban (effective immediately) from running for office, eliminating her from the race.
Addressing her lawmakers on Tuesday, Le Pen, who had seen herself as the favourite to win a 2027 election in which President Emmanuel Macron will not be able to run again, accused the “system” of deploying a “nuclear bomb” to end her presidential hopes.
“If they are using such powerful weapons against us, it is obviously because we are going to win the elections,” said Le Pen, 56. “We will not allow that to happen.”
Later on Tuesday, the Paris Court of Appeal said it would hear Le Pen's case “within a timeframe that will allow a decision to be made in the summer of 2026.”
This could mean that a new trial would take place no later than early 2026, and that a decision would be made well before the 2027 presidential election, in which Le Pen wants to run for a fourth time.
In a statement signed by Chief Justice Jacques Boulard and Attorney General Marie-Suzanne Le Queu, the court said it had received three appeals against the decisions handed down on Monday.
The statement came after Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin, speaking at a tense parliamentary session, expressed hope that Le Pen's appeal would be heard in the “most reasonable time possible”.
“I personally hope that if Ms Le Pen appeals, a new ruling by the Paris Court of Appeal can be issued within the shortest possible time,” Darmanin told parliament.
Analysts believe the court's decision could deepen France's political crisis and cast a shadow over the upcoming 2027 elections.
Le Pen's National Rally (RN), the largest party in parliament, could make life difficult for Prime Minister Francois Bayrou, who does not have a majority in the lower house of the National Assembly.
If Le Pen loses her appeal, there is also a “Plan B” – the candidacy of her protégé and RN party leader Jordan Bardella, a 29-year-old with a stellar reputation on television and social media.
“No one is untouchable”
The atmosphere in parliament was particularly tense.
Le Pen, who remains a member of parliament and head of her party's parliamentary group, attended the session and was seen laughing and chatting with her colleagues.
“I don't want people to say here that our democracy is being undermined by the judiciary,” Bayrou said. “That's not true.”
Le Pen's sentence has sparked an angry reaction from far-right figures across Europe, as well as the Kremlin, X owner Elon Musk and Trump, while Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has expressed concern.
“She was banned from running for five years, and she's the leading candidate. That's like our country,” US President Donald Trump said, comparing her conviction to the “prosecution” he said was carried out against him before he became president.
“Nobody is untouchable: she made a mistake, she must pay for it,” said Nathanael Fichou, a waiter in the southern port of Marseille.
Nicole Prolack, 78, said she was “irritated” because Le Pen represents the interests of millions of French voters.
“But can we allow a man who committed theft to lead the country?”
“I'm counting on you”
The National Rally party said it would organize a rally in Paris on Sunday in support of Le Pen.
“I'm counting on you!” she said at X.
In an interview with Europe 1 radio, Bardella said Le Pen had been convicted with “cruelty and violence” and that her only mistake was “failure to lead the national camp to victory.”
“Everything will be done to prevent us from coming to power,” he said.
He added that this situation could improve the position of RNs.
“I say to the French: do not lose hope.”
“This is not a political decision”
French Prosecutor General Remi Eitz said the verdict was “not a political decision, but a legal one.”
Le Pen took over the leadership of the former National Front (FN) from her father Jean-Marie Le Pen in 2011 and has since tried to clean up its image. Her father, who died in January, was frequently accused of making racist and anti-Semitic comments.
After three unsuccessful presidential campaigns in 2012, 2017 and 2022, polls showed that Le Pen had every chance of easily winning the first round and winning the presidential election in the second round.
A Paris court sentenced her to four years in prison, with two years suspended and the other two years to be served outside the prison wearing an electronic bracelet.
Le Pen was convicted of a scheme in which the party was found to have mitigated pressure on its finances by using monthly allowances from the European Parliament to pay “fictitious” parliamentary assistants who actually worked for the party.
Twenty-four people, including Le Pen, were convicted, all of them RN party functionaries or assistants.
[BTS]
Source: Source
