(…) A Paris court convicted Le Pen and two dozen National Rally (RN) party members of embezzling EU funds last week and imposed a sentence that will prevent her from standing in France’s 2027 presidential election unless she can get the ruling overturned within 18 months.
“We will follow Martin Luther King as an example,” Le Pen said in a video appearance for Italian Matteo Salvini’s anti-immigration Lega party, which was holding a meeting in Florence.
“Our fight will be a peaceful fight, a democratic fight. We will follow Martin Luther King, who defended civil rights, as an example.”
Le Pen supporters waved French flags and chanted “we will win” as they gathered in central Paris on Sunday afternoon for a peaceful protest, which could give an indication of how much popular backing there is for her accusations that prosecutors in the case sought her “political death”.
(…)
An opinion poll by Elabe on Saturday showed Le Pen was still favourite to win the first round of the presidential vote with between 32% and 36% support, ahead of former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, who was polled at between 20.5% and 24%.
But attacks by Le Pen and her allies over the “tyranny of judges” have not gained traction, even among some of her supporters, particularly after the lead judge in her case was put under police protection following death threats. (…)
oh yeah I guess I forgot when MLK got sued and lost for embezzlement of millions of public money and lost his right to take part in an election
MLK was harassed by the state apparatus during his times and even if not convicted his reputation was probably tarnished because of that. It’s a very tasteless comparison by Le Pen regardless.
