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Marine Le Pen denounced a conviction that risks blocking her from the next presidential election as a “witch-hunt” and vowed to appeal in order to “defend democracy and the rule of law”, as thousands of people rallied in Paris on Sunday in support of the embattled far right leader.
Le Pen and her Rassemblement National party were found guilty on Monday of embezzling €4.4mn of EU parliament funds earmarked for Brussels staff who were in reality working for the RN in France.
She was given an immediate ban on standing for election for five years, as well as two years in prison that would likely be served at home with an electronic bracelet, followed by two additional years suspended.
Le Pen told the crowd of flag-waving supporters that the ruling was “not a judicial decision but a political decision”, which “prevented the only sovereign — the people — from expressing themselves”.
Le Pen also sought to defuse accusations from other political parties that the RN was seeking to attack France’s justice system, instead labelling the decision as undemocratic.
“We are the most fervent defenders of and the most ardent protectors of democracy and the rule of law,” Le Pen said, despite evidence presented at trial that RN officials and their assistants knowingly misused European parliament funds.
The combative approach adopted by Le Pen in response to the conviction marks a break with her strategy in recent years of normalising the party and presenting it as respectful of political institutions in France.
The RN’s aggressive stance against the ruling has stoked anger among supporters, while the head judge on the case has been put under police protection after threats were made against her.
Le Pen was given a lifeline earlier this week when the court of appeals said it would hear her case by 2026, meaning she would be able to run for president in 2027 if she was cleared — a scenario seen as unlikely given the evidence presented in the first case — or if the judges decided on a lighter sentence that did not include a ban on standing for office.
Le Pen’s “witch-hunt” comment echoes US President Donald Trump’s condemnation of her sentence. Trump said on Friday that the conviction was “another example of European Leftists using Lawfare to silence Free Speech”, in a post on his Truth Social platform.
Le Pen has chosen not to step back and allow her handpicked successor, RN party chief Jordan Bardella, to step up as an alternative candidate, instead focusing firepower on defending her election bid.
Speaking at the rally, Bardella said more than 10,000 supporters had joined the gathering and that the verdict was a “direct attack against democracy and an injury to millions of French people”.
He also pledged to remain loyal to Le Pen. “She can count on me . . . more than ever, the duo we have formed is based on trust, respect and shared, deep convictions,” he added.
Attendees of the rally, some of whom were bussed in by the RN, also expressed outrage at Le Pen being banned from standing for president in the next election.
Laurence, a former shop assistant from the Eure-et-Loir department near Paris, said it was “scandalous” that Le Pen could not run, adding that she had voted for her on several occasions. “We want change in this country,” she said.
The RN’s criticism of the verdict has sparked opposition from across the political spectrum, with centrist and leftwing politicians hosting their own rallies on Sunday.
At a rally on the outskirts of Paris, former prime minister and leader of the centrist Renaissance party Gabriel Attal said “the far right was gathering to attack our judges and attack our institutions”. The centrist bloc “would never disqualify a decision of the justice system”, he added.
Prime Minister François Bayrou told the Le Parisien newspaper on Sunday that political protests against judicial decisions were “neither healthy nor desirable” given the separation of powers in the French constitution.
