PARIS — A Paris appeals court this week found far-right political leader Marine Le Pen guilty of embezzlement, handing her a fine of 100,000 euros — roughly $114,000 — and reducing her ban from holding elected office from five years down to 45 months, with two-thirds of that ban suspended.
The court also trimmed her prison sentence from four years to three, suspending two of those years. The remaining year is to be served under house arrest with an electronic ankle monitor — a common arrangement in France, where prison overcrowding has long been a serious concern.
The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture has documented persistent overcrowding and deteriorating conditions inside French prisons. Electronic monitoring programs help keep that problem from getting worse.
Under French law, a person placed on electronic home detention must wear an ankle monitor at all times and is forbidden from leaving their home — or another court-approved location — except during hours specifically authorized by a judge. Both the location and the permitted hours are set either by the court or by the judge overseeing the enforcement of the sentence.
While such restrictions make running a political campaign challenging, legal experts say it is not entirely out of the question.
A specialized judge will determine in the weeks or months ahead exactly how Le Pen’s monitoring will be carried out — including where she must serve the sentence and when she will be allowed to leave.
French law also allows for sentence reductions of up to six months per year during the monitoring period, and even the possibility of conditional release, as the appeals court noted in its ruling.
Depending on when the ankle monitor is actually fitted — a process that itself could take several months — Le Pen could potentially be free of the device before the final stretch of the presidential campaign. France is scheduled to hold the first round of its next presidential election on April 18, with a runoff set for May 2.
Céline Bertetto, president of the national association of sentence enforcement judges, weighed in on what the ruling means. “The appeals court has decided to make a (presidential) bid possible, so the decision must be respected,” she said. “Regarding sentence reductions: For a one-year sentence, there can be a six-month reduction, but she must comply with the permitted hours of movement and pay the criminal fine.”
Le Pen herself had previously stated she would not seek the presidency if the court required her to wear an electronic monitor. In a recent interview with LCI channel, she explained her position: “If I can be a candidate, I will be a candidate, provided that I am able to campaign. Because if I’m allowed to be a candidate but am effectively prevented from campaigning freely, then you understand that wouldn’t be possible.”
When asked directly whether the ankle monitor would be the primary obstacle, she was blunt: “Well, of course. I can’t be dependent on a judge to authorize me to go hold a campaign rally … or to visit a market.”
Le Pen, 57, walked out of the courthouse without making any public statement following the verdict, though she was expected to speak during a television interview later that evening.
This type of sentence is not without precedent among prominent French figures. Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy wore an electronic monitor last year after being convicted to a year in prison in a corruption case. He was photographed leaving his residence to go jogging while wearing the device. After just over three months, he was granted conditional release and allowed to remove the monitor. French media reported at the time that he had been authorized to leave home between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., with that window reportedly extended to 9:30 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays so he could attend a separate legal proceeding.
