A French court on Monday barred Marine Le Pen from seeking public office for five years, with immediate effect, for embezzlement -- a hammer blow to the far-right leader’s presidential hopes.
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00:00Yes, I understood, in any case, that the court had targeted the defense system and the behavior
00:08of the audience.
00:09It is something, during the three months of the hearing that we had, that we had
00:13noted, where there was a systematic denial of what had happened during those years.
00:19And I have the impression that the court, well, I have the conviction, that the court
00:22really took into account this situation, this posture, in any case, of denial, by saying
00:28that since you are in the most total denial, well, I consider the judiciary of Paris to
00:33be at risk of recidivism, and so I apply the provisional execution on the additional penalty
00:38of ineligibility.
00:39That's it.
00:40This is the decision she feared the most.
00:43A French court barred Marine Le Pen from seeking public office for five years for embezzlement,
00:49with immediate effect.
00:50That means that even if she decides to appeal the verdict, such a move won't suspend her
00:56ineligibility.
00:58That could rule her out of the next presidential race, scheduled in just two years from now.
01:04The verdict came as a resounding defeat for Le Pen.
01:08She left the courtroom even before the sentence was read, when she understood she would be
01:13declared ineligible.
01:15Le Pen has been twice a runner-up to President Emmanuel Macron in previous presidential elections,
01:21and she was set to be a leading contender in the next one, especially since her far-right
01:27party has gained strength in recent years.
01:30Le Pen and 24 other officials from her national rally are accused of having used money intended
01:37for EU parliamentary aid to pay staff who worked instead for her party between 2004
01:45and 2016.