Le Pen Vows to Fight On, Slams 'Witch Hunt' Behind Her Conviction

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen on April 6 vowed to pursue her presidential ambitions after she was found guilty of embezzlement and banned from standing for office, telling a rally her party is the target of a "witch hunt".

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PARIS - French far-right leader Marine Le Pen on April 6 vowed to pursue her presidential ambitions after she was found guilty of embezzlement and banned from standing for office, telling a rally her party is the target of a "witch hunt".

Le Pen's National Rally (RN) party and centrist and left-wing groups held rival meetings amid renewed tensions six days after a Paris court convicted the 56-year-old of diverting European Union Parliament funds.

Polls have made the RN figurehead the front runner ahead of a presidential election in two years and the court sentence has stunned France's political establishment.

Le Pen spoke at one rally in central Paris to condemn the sentences against her and other RN officials. Her opponents backed the court decision.

"If you steal, you pay," former prime minister Gabriel Attal told his supporters.

Le Pen, 56, was given a four-year jail term, with two years suspended, and banned from public office for five years.

"I won't give up," Le Pen told followers in a Paris square with the golden dome of the Hotel National des Invalides in the background.

She said a "witch hunt" was behind the conviction.