French far-right leader Marine Le Pen poses before an interview on the evening news broadcast of French TV channel TF1, following the verdict in her appeal trial over misuse of EU funds, in Boulogne-Billancourt, near Paris Tuesday. Photo by Christian Hartmann/EPA
July 8 (UPI) -- Marine Le Pen said Wednesday that she plans to run for president again after having her sentence reduced.
Le Pen, the leader of France's far-right National Rally party, began campaigning Wednesday alongside her protégé, Jordan Bardella.
"We're both entering this presidential campaign," Le Pen told reporters in La Flèche, near Paris. On Tuesday, she said in a TV interview that they would run on a joint ticket, with Le Pen as president and Bardella as prime minister.
The ruling on Tuesday shortened her ban on holding public office from five years to 15 months, and with time served, she will be eligible by the April 2027 election. But the court still found Le Pen guilty of embezzlement for diverting funds away from the European parliament. She said she still plans to appeal to France's highest court, the Court of Cassation.
