Sawt Falasteen - Le Pen appeal trial opens with French presidential bid at stake

The appeal comes after a French court last year barred her from running for office for five years over a European Parliament fake jobs scam involving her and other officials from her National Rally party.

The three-time presidential candidate was also handed a four-year prison sentence, with two years suspended, and fined 100,000 euros ($116,000).

Le Pen, 57, who has always maintained her innocence, entered the packed courtroom on Tuesday afternoon flanked by two lawyers, in the hopes of clearing the way for a fourth bid to become president.

If the court upholds the first ruling, Le Pen will be barred from running in the 2027 election, widely seen as her best -- and possibly last -- chance to win the country's top job.

She again risks the maximum sentence -- 10 years in prison and a one-million-euro ($1.16 million) fine -- if the appeal fails.

She could, however, still be a candidate if she is sentenced to a shorter ban and no time to serve under house arrest.

Earlier on Tuesday, Le Pen said she was hopeful the court would listen to her side of the story.

The hearing is expected to last a month, with a decision expected this summer.

Twelve of the accused, as well as the far-right party itself, have appealed against the verdict.

Another 12 people -- including one of Le Pen's sisters -- have decided to accept their convictions without appealing. Another person sentenced has since died.

- Risk of reoffending -

The initial verdict dealt a heavy blow to Le Pen and the RN, which has surged in French politics in recent years.

The court found her guilty -- along with 24 former European Parliament lawmakers, assistants and accountants as well as the party itself -- of operating a "system" from 2004 to 2016 using European Parliament funds to employ RN staff in France.

Le Pen walked out of the courtroom during the sentencing, later slamming the verdict as a "political decision".

The judges defended the decision to bar her from running, saying elected officials should not benefit from "preferential treatment" and citing the risk of reoffending.

The news sparked shock among Le Pen supporters in France, while the US President Donald Trump and the Kremlin expressed concern.

Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon said last week he hoped Le Pen could run for president despite her legal troubles so her election could help "break" the European Union.

- Bardella in the wings -

Le Pen took over the former National Front (FN) from her father Jean-Marie Le Pen in 2011 and has since sought to clean up the party's image.

Her father, who died in January, was often accused of making racist and antisemitic comments.

After coming third in the 2012 presidential polls, Marine Le Pen made the run-off in 2017 and 2022 but was beaten by Emmanuel Macron on both occasions.

Yet 2027 could see a different outcome for the far right, with Macron barred from standing again under France's constitution.

Some 42 percent of French people said they agreed with "ideas defended by the RN", up from 29 percent before the 2022 vote, according to a poll by consultancy firm Verian for Le Monde published on Sunday.

If she cannot be a candidate, Le Pen has said her top lieutenant Jordan Bardella -- the RN party's president who is not a defendant in the trial -- can run in her place.

"Bardella can win instead of me," Le Pen said in December.

A poll in November predicted that Bardella would win the second round of the 2027 elections, no matter who stands against him.

But Bardella said on Monday that a ruling preventing Le Pen from running "would be deeply worrying for democracy" and insisted he was not so far a candidate for president but prime minister.

B.AbuZeid--SF-PST