Paris (AFP) – France's Marine Le Pen on Sunday invoked Martin Luther King's struggle for civil rights as her far-right party planned to rally its supporters after she was convicted of embezzlement and banned from public office.
The bombshell judgement that could crush Le Pen's dream of winning the French presidency in 2027 has stunned the country's political establishment.
Some leftwing forces and the centrist camp staged counter gatherings on Sunday against the far right, while the judges who convicted Le Pen have received threats.
On Sunday, ahead of the rally, Le Pen urged her supporters to take inspiration from one of America's pre-eminent advocates of nonviolence in the fight for equal rights for black Americans.
"We will follow the example of Martin Luther King, who defended civil rights," she told members of Italy's hard-right League party, who were meeting in Florence, via video-link.
"Thank you, Marine, we don't want to take up any more of your time," said Italian deputy prime minister, League leader Matteo Salvini.
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".
LFI coordinator Manuel Bompard said the far right had shown its true colours after years of efforts to become mainstream.
"The far right is a dangerous party, dangerous for democracy and dangerous for the rule of law," he told reporters. "It is a violent party that even threatens judges when decisions taken by the courts do not suit them."
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.
Besides Martin Luther King, Le Pen has compared herself to Alexei Navalny, Russia's jailed opposition leader who died in an Arctic prison in 2024 after being jailed under President Vladimir Putin.