France’s far-right figurehead Marine Le Pen has been banned from running for political office over the next five years, including the 2027 presidential race, after a Paris court convicted her of embezzlement.

The National Rally party figurehead, who currently sits as a member of the French Parliament, was found guilty along with eight other MEPs and a dozen assistants for accusations that they used European Parliament money to pay staff who were working for the RN, according to CNN.

Bénédicte de Perthuis, the court’s president, said that Ms. Le Pen had committed “a serious and lasting attack on the rules of democratic life in Europe” before issuing the sentence. Ms. Le Pen left the courtroom before her sentence was fully read.

Prosecutors requested the court a harsher penalty, including a prison sentence of five years and a fine of $325,000 in addition to ineligibility to run for office over the next five years.

Ms. Le Pen was also handed a four year prison sentence with two years suspended while she will serve the remainder under house detention. While not able to participate in future elections, she will be able to continue to serve her current post as a parliamentary member representing Pas-de-Calais.

“Today it is not only Marine Le Pen who was unjustly condemned: It was French democracy that was killed,” National Rally President Jordan Bardella said in a statement after the sentence was issued.

Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, who is a member of the country’s far-right Lega, alleged that the French government is “afraid” of the voters’ judgement.

“People who are afraid of the judgment of the voters are often reassured by the judgment of the courts. In Paris they have condemned Marine Le Pen and would like to exclude her from political life – an ugly film that we are also seeing in other countries such as Romania,” he said in a statement posted to X. “The ruling against Marine Le Pen is a declaration of war by Brussels.”

Ms. Le Pen had previously run three times for president of France, with the most recent bid in 2022 when she was defeated in a run-off election with current president, Emmanuel Macron. She was able to obtain over 41 percent of the vote.

The National Rally party rose to prominence under its former moniker, The National Front, with a far-right agenda. In recent years, the organization has attempted to distance itself from its racist and antisemitic roots for candidates to secure more elections.

According to previous polls, Ms. Le Pen was on track to replace President Macron, who cannot seek a third term in office.