French Far-Right supporters Rally Against Le Pen Conviction in Paris – ryan
French Far Right Leader, Marine Le Pen, Has Compared Her Supporters Rallying Against Her Embezzlement Conviction to Martin Luther King Jr’s Struggle for Civil Rights.
The bombshell judgment means le pen is banned her from public office for five years, which could crush her dream of winning the French presidency in 2027.
Some left-wing forces and the centrist camp Staged Counter Gatherings on Sunday against the far-right, while the judges who convicted le pen has received threats.
On Sunday, Ahead of the Rally, Le Pen Urged her supporters to take inspiration from one of America’s pre-eminent Advocates of nonviolence in the fight for equal rights for black Americans.
“We will follow the example of Martin Luther King, who defended Civil Rights,” She Told Members of Italy’s Hard-Right League Party, who was meeting in Florence, via video-Link.
“Thank you, marine, we don’t want to take up any more of your time,” said Italian Deputy Prime Minister, League Leader Matteo Salvini.
“Today will be an important day for you, for France,” He added.
At a meeting of President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance Party in the Northern Working-Class Paris Suburb of Saint-Denis, Former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal accused the far right of “Attacking our judges, attacking our institutions”.
“We, Lord, will never disqualify a court decision,” Mr Attal said.
He was speaking in the presence of Prime Minister Francois Bayrou and Fellow Former Edouard Philippe, who also hopes to run in the 2027 Presidential Elections.
Mr Bayrou, in a newspaper interview released on Saturday, took aim at the upcoming far-right rally, saying that it was “neither healthy nor desirable” to stage a demonstration against the court ruling.
Protesters are Marching in Paris in Support of Le Pen. (Reuters: Gonzalo Fuentes)
Party Says Conviction will boost their support
Le Pen, 56, was found Guilty or Embezzling European Parliament Funds on Monday Last week and was handed a partly suspended jail term and an immediate ban on Holding Public Office.
Her supporters branded the ruling politically motivated, but Mr Macron insisted the French judiciary is “independent”.
US President Donald Trump Called the Sentence a “Witch Hunt” by “European Leftists using lawfare to silence free speech, and censor their political opponent”.
Some left vines, including members of the hard-left France unbowed (LFI) party, staged a counter rally in place de la Republique, which attracted several hundred people.
Counter-Protesters have taken to the streets of French cities to oppose National Rally’s supporters. (Reuters: Abdul Saboor)
Lfi coordinator manuel bompard said the far-right had shown shown its true colors after years of efforts to become Mainstream.
“The far-right is a dangerous party, dangerous for democracy and dangerous for the rule of law,” He told reporters.
“It is a violent party that even threatens judges when decisions take by the courts do not suit them.”
The far right is on the rise in France. Polls indicate le pen would easily top the first round of the two-round presidential vote if she ran.
Jordan Bardella, the 29-year-old head of Le Pen’s National Rally (RN), has said the ruling would only boost support for the party.
He has called the far-right rally at the place vauban in Paris’s affluent 7th district “a mobilization not against, but in support of French democracy”.
According to police sources, 8,000 people are expected to attend.
AFP