Far-right leader Marine Le Pen fought Tuesday to keep alive her dream of winning the French presidency after a court handed her a five-year ban on running for office.
The sentence after being found guilty of creating fake jobs at the EU parliament on behalf of her National Rally (RN) party stunned Le Pen as the judge ordered the ban come into force with immediate effect. She had denied all the charges.
The punishment also came as a new thunderbolt to French politics and judicial authorities condemned threats made against the judges in the case.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.