French far-right leader Jordan Bardella on Tuesday accused authorities of trying to block his National Rally (RN) party from taking power after Marine Le Pen was handed an election ban. Le Pen has vowed to challenge the court-imposed prohibition, which could prevent her from running in the 2027 presidential election.
"Everything will be done to prevent us from coming to power," Bardella said in an interview with CNews and Europe 1 radio. On Monday, Le Pen was convicted of misusing European Parliament funds by creating fake jobs, employing assistants who were working for her party in France.
She was barred from running for office for five years and sentenced to four years in prison, though she will not serve time behind bars. Half of the sentence was suspended, while the remainder will be served under electronic monitoring. A total of 24 people, all RN officials or assistants, were convicted in the case.
Bardella likened the decision to a case in Romania, where far-right candidate Călin Georgescu was barred from running for president after elections were annulled over alleged Russian interference.
He announced a "peaceful" protest this weekend while denouncing what he called the "tyranny of the judges," though he also condemned "threats, abuse and insults" directed at them. One of France’s top prosecutors rejected claims of political bias in the ruling.
"Justice is not political. This is not a political decision but a legal one, delivered by three independent, impartial judges," prosecutor Rémy Heitz told RTL radio. He also condemned what he described as "inadmissible ... very personal attacks against the judges and threats that could lead to criminal prosecutions."
