Looks like the United States isn't the only country where leaders are using lawfare to try to get rid of opponents; in France, they have actually succeeded in sidelining the main opponent for the next five years.

A court in Paris ruled Monday that Marine Le Pen, the frontrunner to oppose French President Emmanuel Macron, cannot run for that office for five years because she was convicted of embezzling funds from the European Union.

The ruling was called a "political death sentence" by Le Pen's supporters.

The next election in France is set to take place in 2027.

The conviction

Le Pen was convicted of embezzling $474,000 euros and was part of a larger group of National Rally members who were convicted of embezzling a total of $2.9 million euros.

The money was supposed to be used for parliamentary assistants in Strasbourg, but was spent on political operations in France.

Le Pen's sentence was four years in jail, a $100,000 euro fine, and ineligibility to run for office for five years. The prison sentence will probably be spent on probation with electronic monitoring rather than in an actual jail.

She stormed out of the courtroom upon hearing her conviction without waiting to hear the sentence.

She said she plans to appeal, but the ineligibility to run for office would stand until an appeal was successful, which will take at least a year.

Completely innocent

Le Pen said she was "completely innocent" of the charges.

Former leader of the Republicains and an ally of Le Pen Eric Ciotti characterized the decision as “the democratic destiny of our nation confiscated by an unworthy judicial cabal.”

“This is not a simple malfunction, it is a system of power capture that systematically excludes any candidate too far to the right who is capable of winning," Ciotti added.

Italian Deputy PM and longtime ally Matteo Salvini also said in support, “What is happening against Marine Le Pen is a declaration of war from Brussels, at a time when the belligerent impulses of Von der Leyen and Macron are terrifying. We are not intimidated, we are not stopped: full speed ahead, my friend!”

While it is still two years from the election, Le Pen is the current frontrunner in the race; Macron's approval rating is very low at the moment.