Marine Le Pen, France’s far-right leader, was sentenced to prison and barred from running for office for five years after a court convicted her of embezzlement.

Marine Le Pen, presidential candidate and leader of France's right-wing National Rally party, has been barred from standing by the country's judges.

PARIS (AP) — For years, Marine Le Pen stood at the gates of power — poised, relentless and rising. She stripped the French far right of its old symbols, sanded down its roughest edges and built in its place a sleek, disciplined machine with the single goal of winning the country’s presidency.

The far-right French politician was a leading candidate to become the country’s next president, but has now been barred from running for public office for five years.

After the far-right leader was found guilty of embezzlement and barred from running for office, her supporters cried foul. Was justice served or politicized?

A French court found her and eight other former European lawmakers guilty of embezzling public funds. The verdict is a hammer blow to Le Pen's presidential hopes and an earthquake for French politics.

In a ruling that will shake both French and European politics, the Paris court ruled that Marine Le Pen is ineligible to run for any political office with immediate effect -- meaning she most likely is out of the presidential race that is scheduled to take place in the spring of 2027 at the latest.

President Trump has thrown his support behind France’s figurehead Marine Le Pen, saying that her recent conviction for allegations of embezzlement was nothing more than a “witch hunt” meant to prevent her from running for office.

Marine Le Pen, the front-runner to replace French President Emmanuel Macron in 2027, was found guilty of embezzlement by a Paris court.