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French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has said she will run for the presidency in 2027 after a Paris appeals court found her guilty of embezzling public funds and sentenced her to wear a court-ordered electronic tag

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has said she will run for the presidency in 2027 - just hours after being ordered to wear an electronic tag following her embezzlement conviction.

"I can't campaign with a tag," the National Rally leader told French TV in an interview broadcast on Tuesday evening. "I want to pursue all legal avenues to defend my innocence in this case."

Earlier on Tuesday, a Paris appeals court found Le Pen guilty of misusing €2.8m (£2.4m) in EU funds, but cleared the way for the 57-year-old - who has already contested three presidential elections - to stand in next year's presidential race.

The ruling shortened a ban imposed by a lower court last year that barred her from seeking public office for five years.

Le Pen said on Tuesday that she would appeal the case to France's highest court, the Court of Cassation, and that the process would suspend her sentence to wear an electronic tag for a year.

The Court of Cassation has previously said it expects to rule before the first round of the presidential election, which will take place in April.

On Tuesday, the appeals court ruled that Le Pen oversaw years of misuse by her National Rally party of European Parliament funds by paying staff with money intended for European Union parliamentary assistants. She denied criminal wrongdoing but said during the trial that the party had made a "mistake".

The court upheld guilty verdicts for all 11 accused, including Le Pen and other party members. The party itself was also declared guilty.

However, the court scaled back the punishments handed down by a lower court last year. From five years handed down in March 2025, the ban was cut to 45 months, with two-thirds of it suspended. Le Pen has already served 15 months of the ban, meaning that the potential obstacle is effectively removed.

The verdict also cut her prison sentence from four years, two of them suspended, to three years with two suspended.

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