AFP: BREAKING Court bans French far-right leader Marine Le Pen from running for office after conviction

[Amishman]

19. I'd wait for the appeal to play out, this might not stand

It's a big punishment for the exact details. At the same time, it feels well deserved like Capone going to jail for tax evasion. I don't know how much broader context french courts consider.

Background: Le Pen's party had assistants who were working for both the party and the EU parliament. In reality they were mostly doing party work while collecting a full paycheck from the EU. From what I've read, that double role blurring isn't uncommon with EU staffers, but this was significantly more blatant than most.

However, where this might not stand is that this was changed as embezzlement and Le Pen didn't personally profit from this.