French far-right leader Le Pen declares candidacy after cut sentence

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen declares herself a presidential candidate

following a reduced sentence from a Paris court of appeals that slashed

a ban to hold office from five years to 45 months.

In a television, Le Pen says she will further appeal the verdict of her reduced one-year

home confinement

sentence, where she needs to wear an electronic bracelet, so she can begin

campaigning.

Following an appeal that sees

a ban on her holding elected office shorten from five years to 45 months,

and with 30 of those months suspended, 

leader of the far-right National Rally party Marine Le Pen says

she's officially joining next spring's French presidential race.

Because Le Pen, who was found guilty of embezzling EU funds,

has already served 15 months of the ban since

the original March 2025 ruling, the obstacle to what would be

her fourth presidential run is now effectively removed.

The latest ruling upholds the guilty verdict but shortens

the prison sentence by half to just one year.

The court has ordered her to serve time at home wearing an

electronic bracelet.

After huddling for hours with other leading figures of her

party following the appeal verdict, Le Pen made clear she believes

she won't be subjected to monitoring at all.

In a television interview following her court appearence,

Le Pen says she will once again appeal the ruling to France's

highest court and the process will suspend the sentence,

allowing her to campaign without the electronic monitoring device.

"I want to pursue all the legal avenues available to me so that

I can defend my innocence," she says.

Le Pen and 10 others accused, including party members and the party itself,

were found guilty for the misuse of European Parliament funds by

paying party staff with money intended for EU parliamentary assistants in

March 2025.