UPDATE - French presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen convicted of corruption, barred from seeking office for 5 years

ADDS DETAILS, CHANGES DECK, HEADLINE; EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Ilayda Cakirtekin

ISTANBUL (AA) - French presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen on Monday was barred from seeking political office for five years after being convicted in a corruption case.

A Paris court sentenced the French far-right leader, 56, who was the front-runner in the 2027 presidential election, to four years in prison -- half of it suspended, while two years could be served under surveillance wearing an ankle bracelet. She was also fined €100,000 (around $108,000).

Le Pen’s National Rally party was also ordered to pay a fine of €2 million.

Her lawyer, Rodolphe Bosselut, said they would appeal. "This is totally, absolutely incredible. There is a form of criminalization of the right to defense, which I personally find extremely scandalous,” he added.

Le Pen and other party members were found guilty of diverting more than 4 million euros ($4.33 million) of European Parliament funds. They were accused of using EU funds to the benefit of their party.​​