A French court on Monday returned a guilty verdict for far right leader Marine Le Pen as well as eight European Parliament members and twelve aides from her National Rally party, convicting them of misappropriation of public funds and putting the extremist Le Pen, who'd been expected to run for president once again in 2027, in danger of a ban from public office, Euronews.com reports.
"Personally I'm not nervous. But I can see why people think I might be. The judges have the power of life or death over the movement. But I don't think they will go so far as to do it," Le Pen had told the La Tribune Dimanche newspaper on Sunday ahead of the verdict, downplaying the possibility she could be banned from running for office. The sentence will be handed down in a few hours.