French far-right leader Marine Le Pen strode out of a French court as the chief judge on Monday barred her from seeking public office after she was found guilty of embezzling EU funds.
The judge has not yet said how long Le Pen will be ineligible for running for public office – a decision that could derail the far-right leader’s career and infuriate her millions of supporters.
Le Pen did not wait around to find out. In a moment of high drama, the politician picked up her bag, slung it over her arm and strode briskly out of the courtroom, her heels click-click-clicking on the hardwood floor, leaving disbelief in her wake.
The chief judge looked up at Le Pen but carried on reading out the sentence.
Le Pen left the high-rise Paris courthouse without stopping to speak to reporters and climbed into a car that drove her away.
Earlier on Monday, from the front row of the court, Le Pen showed no immediate reaction when the judge declared her guilty. But she grew more agitated as the proceedings continued. She repeatedly nodded her head in disagreement as the judge went into greater detail with the verdict, saying Le Pen’s party had illegally used European Parliament money for its own benefit. “Incredible,” she whispered at one point.
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