French far-right leader Marine Le Pen cleared to stand for elections next year

AN APPEALS COURT handed France’s far-right chief Marine Le Pen one year of house arrest over a fake jobs scam in the European Parliament, casting doubt on whether she will run for president next April.

The appeals court handed the three-time presidential candidate a 45-month ban from office, 30 months of which were suspended.

The other 15 months were expected to be backdated from the initial verdict by a lower court in March last year, and therefore to have expired, meaning she could in theory be a candidate.

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But the court also gave her a three-year detention, two of which were suspended, meaning she must serve one year under house arrest wearing an ankle tag.

The three-time presidential candidate has said she would not compete to replace centrist President Emmanuel Macron if she was under house arrest and could not campaign properly.

“When you’re a presidential candidate, you need to be completely free to move around,” she said last week in a televised interview.

“I can’t depend on a magistrate to allow me to go to a rally.”

She is to speak on the evening news later this evening, where she is expected to confirm whether she intends to contest the election.