Le Pen called her ban from running a "nuclear bomb" by the system, after a court convicted her of embezzlement and blocked her from office for five years.

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has denounced the court ruling that placed a five-year ban on her seeking public office for embezzlement.

PARIS (AP) — For years, Marine Le Pen stood at the gates of power — poised, relentless and rising. She stripped the French far right of its old symbols, sanded down its roughest edges and built in its place a sleek, disciplined machine with the single goal of winning the country’s presidency.

Le Pen's ban - after being found guilty of embezzling EU funds - means she would not be able to run in the 2027 French presidential election.

Marine Le Pen’s sentencing in France has drawn global attention, with parallels made to legal battles faced by President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro,

Far-right figurehead Marine Le Pen has been banned from running for political office for five years after being found guilty of embezzling European Union funds, in a politically explosive ruling that has shattered her hopes of winning France’s 2027 presidential election.

The sentence made the far-right leader ineligible for five years, excluding her from the 2027 election unless she can secure a more favorable outcome on appeal.

She was found guilty of misappropriating EU funds. The sentence will stop her running for president in 2027 unless she successfully appeals.