PARIS — Far-right leader Marine Le Pen says she'll run for the French presidency next year despite being sentenced Tuesday to wear a court-ordered electronic monitor for embezzlement.The decision by the 57-year-old veteran of three presidential races sets up a fourth campaign like no other: potentially seeking votes while subject to monitoring and with a judge possibly deciding how, and for how long, the punishment is applied.Le Pen said she will appeal the ruling to France's highest court and that the process will suspend the sentence that she be electronically monitored for a year."I will therefore campaign without an electronic bracelet," she said in a television interview Tuesday night."Tonight, I am a candidate for the presidential election."The appeals court ruling earlier Tuesday cleared the way for Le Pen by shortening a ban handed down by a court last year that kept her from seeking public office for five years.But it also said she must wear an electronic monitor, a constraint Le Pen previously said would make campaigning impossible.But after huddling for hours with other leading figures of her National Rally party, Le Pen made clear Tuesday night that she believes she won't be subjected to monitoring at all, and that her appeal to the Court of Cassation will vindicate her."My hands are clean," she said.The highest court previously said it would be able to rule before the presidential election, with the first round in April and a knockout round in May."I want to pursue all the legal avenues available to me so that I can defend my innocence," she said.A similar situation arose in former President Nicolas Sarkozy's corruption case.
An appeals court sentenced him in 2023 to serve part of his sentence under electronic monitoring.Sarkozy appealed to the Court of Cassation, which suspended Sarkozy's sentence pending its review before ultimately upholding the conviction.
He wore an electronic ankle monitor last year.The appeals court ruled that Le Pen oversaw ...