Congress groups clash in Suryapet over mandal president posts, police resort to lathi charge

Marine Le Pen launches France presidential campaign after court decision to shorten ban

Far-right leader plans to take part in 2027 vote despite court of appeal upholding her conviction for embezzlement The French far-right leader Marine Le Pen launched her presidential campaign on Wednesday, after a decision by a court of appeal shortened her ban on running for office, allowing her to take part in the 2027 vote. Le Pen said voters would decide her future. “I’m a citizen like anyone else, who is using their rights,” Le Pen said, attempting to brush aside the legal woes which her political opponents said would now plague her campaign for next spring’s presidential election. On Tuesday, a court of appeal upheld Le Pen’s conviction for playing a key role in orchestrating a fake-jobs scam of unprecedented size and duration. Le Pen, the figurehead of the far-right, anti-immigration National Rally party (RN), was found guilty of being at the centre of the embezzlement of more than €2.8m (£2.4m) in European parliament funds and funnelling the money into her party in Paris between 2004 and 2016. Although her ban on running for office was shortened, opening the possibility of a presidential campaign, she was also handed a form of one-year custodial sentence in which she would have to wear an electronic ankle tag restricting her movements to and from her home. This sentence would have complicated her ability to campaign, and she had previously said she would not run for president under such restrictions. But Le Pen confirmed on Wednesday that she would appeal to France’s highest court, the Court of Cassation, on a point of law. While she lodges that appeal, her sentence will be put on hold. This meant she could run without wearing an electronic tag, she said. In La Flèche, a town in La Sarthe, Le Pen arrived for a market walkabout while some leftwing protesters shouted “thief”, “criminal” and “prison”.