Far-right leader tells supporters she is victim of ‘witch-hunt’, while radical left says RN’s mask has slipped
By Jon Henley
Apr 6, 2025
The French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has told supporters in Paris she would fight “a political, not a judicial ruling” that could bar her from the next presidential election, as a rival rally denounced an “existential threat” to the rule of law after her conviction for embezzling public funds.
“This decision has trampled on everything I hold most dear: my people, my country and my honour,” the figurehead of National Rally (RN) told a crowd of flag-waving supporters as the country’s three main political movements staged events in the Paris.
Speaking from a temporary stage in front of the Hôtel des Invalides with the party’s 120 members of parliament behind her, Le Pen said she would “not give up” and was the victim of a “witch-hunt”, adding: “It is we who are the most ardent defenders of the rule of law.”
But speaking at a leftwing rally a few kilometres away on the Place de la République, the Green party leader, Marine Tondelier, said Le Pen’s defence amounted to “a total conspiracy theory” and a full-blown attack on judicial independence.
“This is about more than Marine Le Pen,” Tondelier said. “It’s about defending the rule of law from people who think justice is optional. For everyone else, she wants tough justice, tolerance zero, jail for the first offence. For her, it’s too tough.”
Manuel Bompard of the radical left France Unbowed (LFI) told the rally the RN’s mask had slipped after years of trying to clean up its image and pose as a future party of government. “It’s dangerous for democracy, dangerous for the rule of law,” he said.
Police said 7,000 people were at the RN rally – several thousand fewer than the party had hoped for – and about 5,000 at the leftwing rival.
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