Le Pen verdict: Surprise ruling complicates French far right’s presidential plans – POLITICO

PARIS — An appeals court on Tuesday cleared a possible path for Marine Le Pen to stand in next year’s presidential election — but under conditions she previously said she would not accept.

The three-judge panel that heard the far-right leader’s appeal upheld her conviction for embezzling European Parliament funds but, crucially, tossed her immediate five-year ban on running for office and replaced it with a shorter one that will allow her to run.

However, Le Pen was sentenced to a year of house arrest — and as recently as last week she said she would not run for president while wearing an ankle monitor.