Marine Le Pen's French presidency bid in jeopardy after election ban

Marine Le Pen's French presidency bid in jeopardy after election ban

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen has been found guilty of embezzlement by a French court, handed a five-year ban on running for office with immediate effect and a four-year prison sentence.

But Le Pen will not go to jail, with two years of the term suspended and the other two to be served outside jail with an electronic bracelet.

Including 56-year-old Le Pen, 24 party officials or assistants from her National Rally (RN) party were convicted over a scheme where they took advantage of European Parliament expenses to employ assistants who were actually working for the party.

The court estimated the scheme they were implicated in was worth 2.9 million euros.