PARIS, March 31 (Xinhua) -- The Paris Court on Monday found Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally (RN) party in the French parliament, guilty of embezzling public funds by paying ghost European parliamentary assistants. The ruling bans her from running for the French presidency for five years.

Alongside Le Pen, eight other RN members of the European Parliament (EP) were also convicted of embezzlement. The 12 parliamentary assistants they had hired were found guilty of possessing stolen goods.

According to the Court, Le Pen and her colleagues arranged for the EP to pay salaries to individuals who were working, partially or entirely, for the French far-right party rather than for the European Parliament.

The total amount embezzled reached approximately 2.9 million euros (3.1 million U.S. dollars), with Le Pen alone responsible for around 474,000 euros (513,000 dollars), the Court stated.

Le Pen was sentenced to four years in prison, two of which are to be served under house arrest with an electronic bracelet. She was also fined 100,000 euros.

Speaking Monday evening on French public broadcaster TF1, Le Pen said she would "appeal as quickly as possible."

Le Pen also affirmed that she would not retire from political life, even if barred from running for the presidency.

Earlier Monday afternoon, RN party president Jordan Bardella called on Le Pen supporters to carry out a "peaceful" mobilization. He also launched a petition in support of Le Pen, calling her ineligibility ruling a "democratic scandal."

Le Pen was President Emmanuel Macron's main political rival in the past two elections. In 2022, Macron defeated her with 58.5 percent of the vote. In 2017, he won against her in a runoff with 66.10 percent. Le Pen had declared that the 2027 presidential race would be her fourth and final attempt at the French presidency. (1 euro = 1.08 U.S. dollars) Enditem

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