The European Court of Human Rights on 9 July dismissed Marine Le Pen’s emergency request to halt the five-year ban that bars her from standing for election in France. The Strasbourg-based court said the application did not demonstrate an imminent risk of irreparable harm to rights protected by the European Convention. Le Pen, who leads the National Rally group in the French National Assembly, filed the petition a day earlier, arguing that the sanction could prevent her from contesting any snap parliamentary or presidential vote. The court’s ruling applies only to the interim measure; her broader complaint against the French decision will be examined later. The ban stems from a 31 March verdict by the Paris Correctional Court, which found Le Pen guilty of orchestrating a scheme to divert about €4.4 million in European Parliament funds to pay party staff between 2004 and 2016. She received a four-year prison sentence, with two years to be served, and was fined, alongside 24 co-defendants who were also convicted. Le Pen has appealed the French judgment.