By Juliette Jabkhiro
PARIS (Reuters) – France’s constitutional court on Friday ruled local politicians can be barred from office immediately if convicted of a crime, leaving the door open for far-right leader Marine Le Pen to potentially be barred from the 2027 presidential race in an embezzlement trial concluding on Monday.
National Rally (RN) leader Le Pen, who leads polls for the 2027 presidential vote, accuses prosecutors of seeking her “political death” by asking judges to bar her from office for five years if convicted.
Should Le Pen receive a so-called “provisional execution” ban, which would be effective immediately even if she appeals, she would be unable to stand in the 2027 election.
She has denied wrongdoing.
Robin Binsard, a lawyer who represents another disbarred politician, said the court’s ruling was “absolutely” negative for Le Pen as “the judges retain the possibility of ordering ineligibility with provisional execution”.
The court in Friday’s case dismissed a challenge from a disbarred Mayotte councilman who disputed the legality of his “provisional execution” ban, which means having to quit their jobs immediately if convicted, rather than waiting for an appeals process to run its course.
In its ruling, the court said the “provisional execution” of an ineligibility sentence did not infringe on rights such as freedom of expression and so was legal.
In Le Pen’s case, prosecutors have asked judges to impose an immediate five-year ban regardless of any appeal, via the same “provisional execution” measure.
A provisional execution ban would not see Le Pen removed from her seat in parliament until her mandate ends, but it would prevent her from running in any fresh electoral contest.
Le Pen, the RN and some two dozen party figures are accused by prosecutors of diverting over 3 million euros ($3.27 million) of European Parliament funds to pay staff working for the party in France.
The defendants say the money was used legitimately and that the allegations incorporate too narrow a definition of what a parliamentary assistant does.
(Reporting by Juliette Jabkhiro; Editing by Gabriel Stargardter and Alison Williams)
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