France's Le Pen says will run for president despite fraud conviction

According to France 24, French far-right leader Marine Le Pen says she will run for president in twenty twenty-seven, defying her conviction for embezzling European Union funds to pay party staff. An appeals court upheld that guilty verdict but shortened her ban on holding office, clearing her path to the ballot. Le Pen, who says she will appeal the conviction, has already launched a campaign website and is urging voters to back her. France 24 notes this creates an unprecedented situation: a leading candidate heading into an election after a guilty verdict over public funds.

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