Editorial: Le Monde

• Marine Le Pen has been sentenced at first instance for her central role in diverting European Union funds for her party between 2004 and 2016.
• She has been sentenced to four years in jail and five years of immediate ineligibility, calling into question her ability to run for the presidency in 2027.
• Le Pen has criticized the ruling as a political decision meant to prevent her from becoming president and argues that the rule of law has been violated.
• The 2016 Sapin 2 law has made ineligibility penalties more common in cases of public funds embezzlement.
• The immediate application of ineligibility, despite an appeal process, is rarer and may be taken to the Constitutional Council again.
• The trial comes in a context of harder penalties and increasing political demand for more severe and swift punishment.

Conclusion: Le Pen's conviction and her criticism of it reflect tensions in French politics around law enforcement, especially as it pertains to political figures and the increasing hardening of sanctions.

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