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Marine Le Pen, France’s far-right National Rally (RN) leader, called for a court ruling that prohibits her from running for the “witch hunt” office.
“I won’t give up,” she told thousands of flag-waving supporters in Vauban near Paris’ Eiffel Tower on Sunday.
On Monday, she was found guilty of helping the party embezzle a 2.9 million euro (£2.5 million) EU fund for use between 2004 and 2016. Le Pen has been banned from running for five years and is suing for a ruling.
At a rally on Sunday, she argued it was a “political decision,” adding, “we are asking not to go beyond the law, not to go beyond the law.”
RN President Jordan Bardera told the rally on Sunday that the court’s ruling was “a direct attack on democracy and an injury to millions of patriotic French people.”
He said he “don’t want to trust every judge,” but in 2027 he argued that the decision on Le Pen was intended to “exclude her from the presidential race.”
In response, Gabriel Attal, head of President Emmanuel Macron’s centralist Renaissance party, replied, “You stole, you pay.”
Atal also condemned “unprecedented interference” in French issues, pointing to Le Pen’s support from several right-wing leaders, including Italian leader Giorgia Meloni and Hungary’s Victor Orban.
US President Donald Trump called her belief “a very big deal.”
On Sunday, Le Pen appeared in the Italian right-wing Legga Party Congress via video link, comparing her situation to US civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
“Our battle will be like you – a peaceful battle, a democratic battle,” she said.
“We take inspiration from Martin Luther King Jr., who defended civil rights. Well, today it’s the civil rights of the French people that are being questioned.”
Reuters
A poll by BFMTV after Monday’s ruling showed that 57% of people in France believe that justice was provided in the Le Pen case without bias.
The Paris Court of Appeals said Tuesday that by the summer of 2026, a decision on the case should be made months before the 2027 presidential election.
Le Pen was preparing for his fourth presidency, but he had a chance to win.
In addition to the five-year ban on running for office, she was also sentenced to a fine of 100,000 euros (£82,635) and a four-year sentence, two of which were suspended.
This may not apply until the appeal process is exhausted and may take years.
RN spokesman Laurent Jacobelli said the party will fight to have Le Pen as a candidate, but Bardella, 29, is the “most naturally legitimate” alternative.
Bardella avoided being drawn into the debate at this stage, refused to say whether he was the “Plan B” of the national rally, and after the sentence the French should be “enthussed” by the sentence.
However, a poll released before Le Pen was sentenced showed that around 60% of RN voters would return Bardella to Le Pen in the presidential election if he runs.
Macron has no right to support another term in the next presidential election.
