Supporters of French far-right politician Marine Le Pen gathered in Paris on Sunday to protest her conviction of embezzlement and a five-year election ban.
Le Pen was standing in front of the sea of French flags in Paris on Sunday. “For 30 years, I’ve fought injustice,” she told the crowd. “And I’ll continue to fight.”
Le Pen pledged to not allow himself to be “stolen from the presidency.” “It is impossible to hide my feelings by meeting you and on our side in all our departments. Thank you for being here to defend what this decision is trampling on and what I value above all: my people, my country, and my honor.”
“Relax everyone: I won’t give up,” she added at the meeting.
Le Pen’s party, National Rally (RN), organized the event in response to what was called a politically motivated verdict. But the message was clear in the chant “President of the Marines” and “They Don’t Steal 2027 from Us.” This was more than a protest. It was a show of populist rebellion that directed French institutions head-on.
“So now I am to be excluded from democratic life in the name of the obstruction of the so-called democratic public order, a concept that was purely and simply invented for the occasion.”
The rival leftist demonstrations gathered in place of Les Republique, denounced what organizers described as “Trumpist turn” by the national rally.
President Emmanuel Macron’s centralist Renaissance Party warned of “an existential threat to the rule of law” and organized its own demonstrations in San Dennis.
The legal decision had an impact beyond France, sending shockwaves through far-right circles in Europe and beyond.
Despite Monday’s court ruling, polls show that RN remains strong, even if Le Pen Protégé Jordan Bardera becomes the 2027 presidential candidate.
A few days after Le Pen’s conviction, a recent French poll conducted between Wednesday and Friday last week showed that both Valdera and Le Pen were well ahead of the line in terms of voting intentions for the 2027 presidential election.
Le Pen voted between 32% and 36% of his voting intention, while Bardella was projected between 31% and 35.5%.
Bardella: Direct attacks on democracy
The young president of RN, who preceded the far-right leader on the podium, denounced the “scandalous” judicial decision to “eliminate” Le Pen from the presidential election, accusing it of “direct attacks on democracy” and “injury to millions of patriots.”
“They wanted to turn off one voice, but they awakened the people of France,” Bardera said on the podium.
“History gave us a date here,” he added. He added before booing a counter demonstration organized simultaneously by the left section.
Most of the demonstrators interviewed came from the Paris region and internal suburbs, with the exception of buses from Henin Biemont, the base of the national collectives in northern France.
Before the actual start of the “meeting,” people gathered at the Vauban location were confused by protests by the feminist activist group Femen. He called for a lifetime ban on Le Pen before it was suddenly removed by RN Security.
