French far-right figurehead, Marine Le Pen, has been banned from running for political office for five years.
This was the verdict as a Paris court found her guilty of embezzling European Union funds.
The court also handed Le Pen a four-year prison sentence with two years suspended, but she will serve it under house arrest.
Le Pen has also been asked to pay a â¬100,000 ($108,000) fine.
Her lawyer has already confirmed Le Pen will file an appeal.
Le Pen's party, National Rally, RN, was ordered to pay â¬2 million in fines for the â¬4.1 million that it was accused of embezzling.
Judge Bénédicte de Perthuis noted that Le Pen’s actions amounted to a “serious and lasting attack on the rules of democratic life in Europe, but especially in France.”;
De Perthuis said Le Pen’s immediate ban on running for office was tied to “democratic public unrest”; that would result from the election of a person convicted of embezzlement.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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