{"text":[[{"start":8.55,"text":"French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has been cleared to stand for president next year after appeals court judges shortened her sentence, even as they upheld her conviction of embezzling funds from the European parliament."}],[{"start":21.35,"text":"In a significant reprieve, the three-judge panel on Tuesday shortened an electoral ban that would have stopped her from running. But they also sentenced Le Pen to three years in prison, with two years suspended and the remaining year to be served under electronic monitoring."}],[{"start":37.85,"text":"Le Pen must now decide whether she believes that would be compatible with running a campaign. Another judge in a separate process will set the specific conditions of the monitoring, such as travel limitations or curfews."}],[{"start":50.45,"text":"Before Tuesday’s verdict, Le Pen repeatedly ruled out running if she was forced to wear a bracelet. "}],[{"start":56.75,"text":"Constitutional lawyer Anne-Charlene Bezzina said a decision to run would be a “kamikaze” move by Le Pen, after being convicted of serious corruption."}],[{"start":66,"text":"“This verdict highlights the seriousness of the offence . . . What you have to keep in mind with a prison sentence is that you’re dealing with someone who should be behind bars,” said Bezzina."}],[{"start":76.15,"text":"Le Pen huddled with her lawyers in the courtroom after the verdict and exited the courthouse without speaking publicly. She and other RN officials headed to their headquarters to discuss next steps. "}],[{"start":87.15,"text":"She was expected to appear in a primetime television interview later on Tuesday in which she may reveal her plans."}],[{"start":94.4,"text":"Le Pen’s decision will shape the presidential election. She had long said that Jordan Bardella, her 30-year-old protégé and handpicked successor, would run if she could not."}],[{"start":104.65,"text":"The judges stressed the seriousness of Le Pen’s role in what they called a deliberate scheme to use EU parliament funds to employ staff working on French national politics rather than their duties in Brussels."}],[{"start":117.5,"text":"But they cut the lower court’s five-year electoral ban to 45 months, with 30 suspended, leaving only 15 months — already served since her March 2025 conviction. The new ban no longer prevents her from running in the 2027 election to replace President Emmanuel Macron."}],[{"start":136.85,"text":"The presiding judge, Michèle Agi, said the court had found the penalty already served had “remedied the breach of integrity” to an extent compatible with citizens’ fundamental guarantees, and that ignoring this would undermine “freedom of candidacy”."}],[{"start":152,"text":"Le Pen’s lawyer Rodolphe Bosselut called the decision an “important inflection” on ineligibility penalties, adding that the judge had stressed voters’ right to choose their candidates. “It’s a good start,” he said."}],[{"start":164.95,"text":"Le Pen’s rivals had been waiting for her decision, with their strategies likely to differ depending on whether she or Bardella runs. One official from former prime minister Édouard Philippe’s camp said before the verdict that Le Pen would be the stronger candidate."}],[{"start":179.35,"text":"Both Le Pen and Bardella poll well ahead of rivals in hypothetical first-round match-ups, and either could win in some scenarios."}],[{"start":188.35,"text":"Bardella is popular with the party’s working-class base as well as with young and affluent voters, but his relative inexperience may weigh on his appeal to the wider electorate in a presidential run."}],[{"start":199.85,"text":"However, a recent Ifop poll showed Bardella hitting 34 per cent in the first round, four points higher than Le Pen, suggesting he could capture voters who have eluded her. "}],[{"start":210.25,"text":"Unlike Bardella, Le Pen has decades of experience and the credibility within the RN that comes from turning it from a fringe party into a mainstream force."}],[{"start":220.5,"text":"She has run unsuccessfully for president three times since 2012, while her father Jean-Marie Le Pen, who founded the Front National, ran five times. Helped by the social media-savvy Bardella, she has sought to normalise the party and escape the legacy of her father, who was convicted for calling the Holocaust “a detail of history”."}],[{"start":240.4,"text":"The RN is now the most popular in France with the biggest delegation of any party in the National Assembly."}],[{"start":247.45000000000002,"text":"The investigation began in 2015 after the European parliament alleged the RN had misused EU funds by employing staff to work on French national politics rather than their duties in Brussels."}],[{"start":260.65000000000003,"text":"Le Pen and 23 allies, including nine former MEPs, were tried in 2024 over allegations they misappropriated about €4.4mn in taxpayer money between 2004 and 2016. Appeals court judges found that Le Pen had diverted money allotted to MEPs, including for a bodyguard and personal secretary for her father."}],[{"start":284.3,"text":"At the time, the RN was a much smaller party, with eight seats in the National Assembly against 138 today, and struggled to secure bank loans. "}],[{"start":294.1,"text":"A Paris criminal court convicted all the former MEPs and some staff members in March 2025 over the “fake contracts” scheme, singling out Le Pen for piloting it."}],[{"start":312.4,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1783470394_3967.mp3"}