French far-right leader Le Pen's corruption sentence reduced, clearing path for presidential bid

(CNA Paris, July 7) French far-right leader Marine Le Pen was sentenced to one year of house arrest with an electronic tag today in a case involving the alleged fraudulent claiming of assistant fees from the European Parliament, clearing obstacles for her presidential bid next year, though it may also affect her campaign. This election represents her party's best chance of governing.

According to Agence France-Presse, the Paris Court of Appeal found Le Pen guilty today but reduced her sentence to a 15-month ban from holding public office and one year of house arrest monitored by an electronic tag. The ban from holding public office, calculated from March last year, will not prevent her from participating in the presidential elections to be held in April and May next year.

However, Le Pen, 57, had previously stated that if the sentence hindered her campaign, she might withdraw from the presidential race next year. She is expected to announce her decision later today.

Le Pen has run for president three times. If she withdraws, the leadership of her party, the National Rally, might fall to its leader Jordan Bardella. Bardella, 30, is Le Pen's trusted deputy.

Recent polls largely suggest that the National Rally will lead in the first round of next year's French presidential election, but its victory in the second round is uncertain. Many of these polls also indicate that Bardella has a slightly higher chance of winning than Le Pen.

Le Pen, the National Rally, and 24 other individuals, including former Members of the European Parliament, assistants, and accountants, were accused of operating a system between 2004 and 2016 to embezzle European Parliament funds to hire personnel in France for the National Rally.

The defendants were previously found guilty by a lower court. Le Pen was sentenced last year to a five-year ban from holding public office and a two-year prison sentence, which threatened her hopes of running for president next year to succeed the outgoing centrist President Emmanuel Macron.

Le Pen, the National Rally, and 10 other defendants subsequently appealed. (Compiled by Zhang Zhengqian) 1150707

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