Marine Le Pen faces crucial Paris appeals trial over misuse of EU funds

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen leaves the National Rally headquarters after a French court convicted Marine Le Pen of embezzlement and barred her from seeking public office for five years, Monday, March 31, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen’s political future hangs in the balance at an appeals trial in Paris which may damage her party’s ambitions of radically changing France’s direction through anti-immigration and nationalist policies.

Ms Le Pen started answering the judges’ questions on Tuesday as she seeks to overturn a March ruling that found her guilty of misusing European Parliament funds in the hiring of aides from 2004 to 2016.