Marine Le Pen, leader of France’s far-right National Rally party, said she intends to run for president of France in 2027 despite the embezzlement sentence handed down to her on Tuesday, the Associated Press reports.

The court ordered the politician to wear an electronic ankle monitor, but she hopes to avoid having to comply with that measure through further appeals.

The 57-year-old Le Pen said she will file an appeal in cassation with France’s highest judicial authority, the Court of Cassation. According to her, this will automatically suspend enforcement of the sentence requiring her to wear an electronic ankle monitor for one year.

“So I will campaign without an electronic ankle monitor. This evening, I am a candidate in the presidential election,” Le Pen said in a television interview.

Earlier, the Court of Appeal reduced the ban on running for office that had been imposed on her by the lower court last year. Instead of five years, the restriction was set at 45 months, with two-thirds of that term suspended. Since Le Pen has already served 15 months of the ban, this effectively removes obstacles to her participation in the presidential campaign.

At the same time, the court upheld the sentence of electronic monitoring. The politician had previously argued that a full-fledged election campaign would be impossible with an electronic ankle monitor, but she has now expressed confidence that the cassation appeal will allow her to avoid that measure.

Le Pen also said she does not consider herself guilty. “My hands are clean,” she said.

According to the court’s ruling, Le Pen led a long-running scheme involving the unlawful use of European Parliament funds. Investigators found that the National Rally party paid salaries to its staff using funds intended to cover the work of European Parliament assistants. Although the politician denied committing a crime, during the trial she acknowledged that the party had “made a mistake.”

The Court of Appeal upheld the convictions of all 11 defendants in the case, including Marine Le Pen and other party representatives. The party itself was also found guilty.

In addition, the court reduced the prison sentence. Instead of four years, two of them suspended, Le Pen received a three-year sentence, two years of which were suspended.

The specific conditions of wearing the electronic ankle monitor, including possible restrictions on movement, will be determined by a separate judge in the coming weeks or months. After at least six months of compliance, the court may allow the monitor to be removed provided the sentence is carried out in good faith, including payment of a €100 million fine.

After the ruling was announced, Le Pen headed to the party’s headquarters in Paris, where her political successor Jordan Bardella had been earlier. Against the backdrop of the court case, discussions continue within the party over who will become the main candidate in the 2027 presidential election.

Marine Le Pen has taken part in the previous three presidential elections, and members of the Le Pen family have appeared on France’s presidential ballots since 1988. Her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, ran for president four times as leader of the National Front party, which was renamed National Rally in 2018 as part of Marine Le Pen’s efforts to broaden electoral support.

At present, the National Rally is the largest single party in France’s National Assembly, although it does not hold a parliamentary majority.

The court noted that the party had unlawfully misappropriated about €2.8 million in European Parliament funds over more than 11 years. At the same time, the judges emphasized that the portion of the ban on holding elected office already served had remedied the harm to the public interest, and that any further restriction could violate the principle of freedom to participate in elections, one of the fundamental elements of the democratic system.