In her orchestrated campaign against the "tyranny of judges," as she put it, Marine Le Pen at least succeeded in rallying all the members of the legal profession against her. The situation was deemed serious enough for judges and lawyers to stand perfectly aligned in condemning the attacks on the independence of the judiciary and the threats made against magistrates.

Even Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin, who had said in November 2024, at the time of the prosecutor's closing argument in the case, that it "would be deeply shocking if Le Pen were deemed ineligible and thus unable to stand before the French electorate," supported the magistrates. "In a democratic state governed by the rule of law, criticism of a judicial decision can never be expressed through threats against magistrates," he said on Tuesday, April 1.

Following her conviction, Le Pen launched a media counter-offensive on French television on Monday, denouncing a "political decision" and accusing the Paris Correctional Court of "preventing her from being elected president of the Republic." For 24 hours, Rassemblement National (RN) elected officials spoke on television and the radio to relay the same carefully prepared talking points. Meanwhile, on social media, presiding judge Bénédicte de Perthuis was targeted by the far right. She faced insults and threats, photos of her were published and her home address was shared.

You have 79.55% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.