Proposed political ban for France's Le Pen increasingly prevalent, despite her outrage

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who in two weeks will learn her fate in an embezzlement trial, says prosecutors demanding she face an instant five-year public office ban have waged an unheard of assault on her presidential hopes. The 56-year-old National Rally (RN) leader, who leads polls for the 2027 presidential vote, accuses prosecutors of seeking her "political death" by asking judges to bar her from office if convicted - effective immediately even if she appeals. However, ever since the passage of the Sapin II anti-graft law in 2016, a growing number of politicians convicted of corruption have received such bans, which may worry Le Pen as the March 31 verdict approaches.