Le Pen allies decry witch-hunt as prosecutors threaten her French presidential hopes

PARIS (Reuters) -Allies of French far-right leader Marine Le Pen have accused the judiciary of a witch-hunt and undue meddling in democracy after prosecutors requested she face an obligatory five-year ban from public office if convicted of misusing European Union funds.

The prosecutors’ move to seek a “provisional execution” on the public office ban – a tough, rarely used tool that means the ban would stand irrespective of any appeal – casts doubt on Le Pen’s chances of running in the 2027 presidential election.

Le Pen, the leader of the National Rally (RN) party, is widely seen as the frontrunner to be the next president.

She is currently on trial, along with the RN itself and 24 others, for allegedly using European Parliament funds to pay party workers in France – accusations they deny. They denounce the case as a politically motivated attempt to keep the RN from power. A verdict is due next year.

“It’s an attack on democracy,” RN party chief Jordan Bardella wrote on X after the prosecutors made their request.

Their furious response echoes the frequent attacks by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump against the U.S. judicial system over the legal woes he has faced since his first term.

“Being harassed by the judiciary was a crucial step towards victory for President Trump,” right-wing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban wrote on X. “Marine, please remember we are with you in this battle!”

Judges and prosecutors around the world are wading into thorny political debates. While some applaud them for holding politicians to account, critics rail against mission creep by unelected despots in robes.

In Brazil, former President Jair Bolsonaro was banned from public office until 2030 for undermining faith in Brazil’s electoral system. More recently, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni reacted furiously to judges blocking migrants being shipped to Albania.

“Look at what’s happening in the United States, look at what’s happening in Italy,” said National Rally MEP Jean-Paul Garraud, a former judge who joined the RN in 2018. “Clearly, France is not being spared.”

Even some mainstream French politicians expressed concern. Gerald Darmanin, who was President Emmanuel Macron’s interior minister until September, wrote on X that “it would be deeply shocking” if Le Pen were not allowed to stand in 2027.

‘POLITICIZED’ DECISION?

The prosecutors’ said they sought a “provisional execution” against Le Pen and her co-accused for repeated efforts to play for time in a probe that stretches back nearly a decade. An obligatory ban would prevent repeat offences, they argued.

In the event of a conviction, judges may choose to reject the prosecutors’ request.

Ludovic Friat, the president of the USM, the largest union representing French prosecutors and judges, said the decision to request a “provisional execution” was unusual.

“It’s a decision that could be viewed as politicized,” he said, adding that he believed prosecutors had used it “to say that what happened was not democratically acceptable”.

It remains to be seen how Le Pen will now adapt her political strategy. Her years-long push to professionalize the RN, seeking to shed its reputation for racism and anti-Semitism, stands in stark contrast to Trump’s anti-institutional movement.

Le Pen’s endeavours have paid off: the RN is now the largest single party in parliament, and props up Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s weak coalition government.

Patrick Weil, a historian of the far right, doubted Le Pen would now adopt a more Trumpian strategy.

“I don’t think she needs to go full MAGA,” he said. “She can continue to say she is a victim of the elites.”

Instead, Weil wondered whether Le Pen may now seek to topple the Barnier government, block any new government proposed by Macron, and try to force his swift resignation.

“Le Pen may now have an incentive to bring Emmanuel Macron’s time as president to an end already next year by teaming up with the left alliance,” EuroIntelligence said in a note. “Politics is more creative than the courts.”

(Reporting by Gabriel Stargardter, Editing by Richard Louigh, William Maclean and Alison Williams)