The Japan Times - France's far-right, leftwingers rally supporters after Le Pen conviction

The bombshell judgement stunned France's political establishment, and some leftwing forces and the centrist camp also planned to stage counter-rallies on Sunday.

"People of France, let us mobilise to defend freedom, save democracy and support Marine!" Le Pen's National Rally (RN) party said on X ahead of the protest in Paris.

The far right is on the rise in France. Polls indicate Le Pen, 56, would easily top the first round of the two-round presidential vote if she ran.

She describes herself as the "favourite" to succeed President Emmanuel Macron.

On Monday, Le Pen, 56, was found guilty of embezzling European Parliament funds and given a partly suspended jail term and an immediate ban on holding public office.

Her supporters branded the ruling politically motivated, but 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".

Prime Minister Francois Bayrou rejected that remark as "interference" in French affairs, in a newspaper interview released Saturday.

He added that it was "neither healthy nor desirable" to stage a demonstration against the court ruling, insisting French institutions allowed for "the separation of powers and the defence of justice".

"The Republic is under threat," Greens leader Marine Tondelier said on X, urging supporters to rally in central Paris on Sunday.

Macron's Renaissance party, led by former prime minister Gabriel Attal, 36, gathered in the northern working-class Paris suburb of Seine-Denis. Bayrou has been invited to attend the meeting, which has been in preparation for weeks.

"One of the questions that will arise on Sunday is whether or not we want France to become Trump's America", said one of Attal's associates.

- 'Victimisation' -

Jordan Bardella, the 29-year-old head of the National Rally, said the ruling would only boost support for the party.

He has called the far-right rally in Place Vauban in Paris's affluent 7th district "a mobilisation not against, but in support of French democracy."

According to police sources, 8,000 people are expected to attend.

Le Pen has worked to turn the party into an electable mainstream force and rid it of the legacy of her father, its co-founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, who died in January and was frequently accused of racism.

The latest survey by pollster Elabe for broadcaster BFMTV, released Saturday, showed her with up to 36 percent of the vote.

Even some of her fiercest opponents say the far-right leader should be allowed to stand in the 2027 vote. She has lodged an appeal.

But now Le Pen risks seeing years of progress undone, political observers say.

After the ruling, she accused authorities of using a "nuclear bomb" against her.

She compared herself to Alexei Navalny, the jailed Russian opposition leader who died in an Arctic prison in 2024 after being jailed under President Vladimir Putin.

"Indecent to the end," said left-leaning daily Liberation in its verdict on that claim.

"She is forced to adopt an anti-establishment point of view and position," said Jean-Yves Dormagen, president of Cluster17, an opinion analysis institute.

"Victimisation works with her voters."

The National Rally is the largest single party in parliament and can complicate life for Bayrou, who does not have a majority in the lower house.

His predecessor Michel Barnier was ejected from office last December in a move backed by Le Pen.

The Paris Court of Appeal said it would examine Le Pen's case within a timeframe that could potentially allow her to contest the polls if her conviction is overturned or her sentence changed.

pol-bpa-gbh-as/cw

S.Yamamoto--JT