Marine Le Pen arrives at the Paris courthouse on the opening day of the appeal trial in her embezzlement case in Paris in January. Her appeal was denied Tuesday, but her ban on running for office was shortened, paving the way for her to run again. File Photo by Yoan Valat/EPA
July 7 (UPI) -- Marine Le Pen's appeal verdict Tuesday has cleared the way for her to run for president of France again, but whether she will isn't clear.
Le Pen, leader of France's far-right National Rally party who was convicted on charges of embezzlement for misusing European Parliament funds, lost the appeal. But the court shortened the ban on running for office from five years to 15 months, which have already been served. So, she could run for office now. She was a member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2017.
Le Pen, 57, has said running for president of France would be too difficult because she is required to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet for a year -- instead of two years in prison -- that would restrict her movements, making campaigning too difficult.
She could still appeal to France's highest court, the Court of Cassation, and she has 10 days to decide. That would also prevent her from campaigning because of the time it would take, likely several months.
