France's three-time presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has told a court that she did not feel she was committing any offence when her far-right party employed European Parliament assistants from 2004.
"I had no sense of having committed the slightest offence when, in 2004, 2009, and 2014, we hired our assistants," she said as her appeal trial opened in a case of alleged European Parliament fake jobs.
"If indeed any wrongdoing was committed, the European Parliament did not play the warning role it should have."
The European institution "was aware of the overall elements making up these contracts. We concealed nothing," she added.
A lower court last year found Le Pen guilty, along with 24 former European lawmakers, assistants and accountants, as well as the far-right party itself, of operating a "system" from 2004 to 2016 using EU Parliament funds to employ RN employees in France.
The court barred her from running for office for five years and handed her a four-year prison sentence, with two years suspended, and fined €100,000.
If the appeal court upholds the first ruling, Ms Le Pen will be barred from running in the 2027 election, widely seen as her best - and possibly last - chance to win the country's top job.
She again risks the maximum sentence - 10 years in prison and a €1 million fine - if the appeal fails.
She could, however, still be a candidate if she is sentenced to a shorter ban and no time to serve under house arrest.
The hearing is expected to last a month, with a decision expected this summer.
Twelve of the accused, as well as the far-right party itself, have appealed against the verdict.
Another 12 people - including one of Ms Le Pen's sisters - have decided to accept their convictions without appealing. Another person sentenced has since died.
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Risk of reoffending
The initial verdict dealt a heavy blow to Ms Le Pen and the RN, which has surged in French politics in recent years.
The court found her guilty - along with 24 former European Parliament lawmakers, assistants and accountants as well as the party itself - of operating a "system" from 2004 to 2016 using European Parliament funds to employ RN staff in France.
Ms Le Pen walked out of the courtroom during the sentencing, later slamming the verdict as a "political decision".
The judges defended the decision to bar her from running, saying elected officials should not benefit from "preferential treatment" and citing the risk of reoffending.
The news sparked shock among Ms Le Pen supporters in France, while the US President Donald Trump and the Kremlin expressed concern.
Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon said last week he hoped Ms Le Pen could run for president despite her legal troubles so her election could help "break" the European Union.
Bardella in the wings
Ms Le Pen took over the former National Front (FN) from her father Jean-Marie Le Pen in 2011 and has since sought to clean up the party's image.
Her father, who died last year, was often accused of making racist and antisemitic comments.
After coming third in the 2012 presidential polls, Marine Le Pen made the run-off in 2017 and 2022 but was beaten by Emmanuel Macron on both occasions.
Yet 2027 could see a different outcome for the far right, with Mr Macron barred from standing again under France's constitution.
Some 42% of French people said they agreed with "ideas defended by the RN", up from 29 percent before the 2022 vote, according to a poll by consultancy firm Verian for Le Monde published on Sunday.
If she cannot be a candidate, Ms Le Pen has said her top lieutenant Jordan Bardella - the RN party's president who is not a defendant in the trial - can run in her place.
"Bardella can win instead of me," Ms Le Pen said in December.
A poll in November predicted that Mr Bardella would win the second round of the 2027 elections, no matter who stands against him.
But Mr Bardella said on Monday that a ruling preventing Ms Le Pen from running "would be deeply worrying for democracy" and insisted he was not so far a candidate for president but prime minister.
