French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has announced her candidacy for the 2027 presidential election shortly after being instructed to wear an electronic monitoring device due to a conviction for embezzlement.

In an interview with French TV on Tuesday, the National Rally leader stated that she cannot campaign while wearing the tag and intends to exhaust all legal options to prove her innocence in the matter.

A Paris court revealed that Le Pen’s party misappropriated €2.8m (£2.4m) over an 11-year period. Despite this, the 57-year-old, who has run for president three times before, plans to challenge the decision at France’s highest court, which will suspend the requirement for her to wear the electronic tag for a year.

The recent court ruling has paved the way for Le Pen to participate in future elections by reducing a previous ban that prevented her from seeking public office for five years. However, she is still mandated to wear the electronic tag. Even though she previously expressed concerns about campaigning with the device, Le Pen now believes she may not be subjected to monitoring and is confident that her appeal to the Cour de Cassation will be successful.

The Court of Cassation has indicated it could issue a ruling prior to the upcoming presidential election in April.

The appeals court affirmed that Le Pen was aware of the misuse of European Parliament funds by her party, which involved paying staff with money designated for European Parliament assistants. While she denied any criminal activities, she admitted the party had committed an error during the trial.

All 11 accused individuals, including Le Pen and other party members, were found guilty by the appeals court. Additionally, the party itself was held accountable for the misconduct.

Despite the guilty verdicts, the court reduced the penalties imposed by a lower court last year. The ban prohibiting Le Pen from holding public office was decreased from five years to 45 months, with two-thirds of it suspended. Since she has already served 15 months of the ban, the obstacle to her candidacy has been significantly diminished.

Furthermore, her prison sentence was reduced from four years, with two of them suspended, to three years, with two suspended, by the recent ruling.