At a fiery rally on Sunday, French far-right leader Marine Le Pen delivered a defiant speech to supporters, denouncing a recent guilty verdict against her as politically driven and vowing to continue her fight for “truth and justice.”
Le Pen sharply criticized the European Union’s anti-fraud office, OLAF, describing it as a “totalitarian organism” and blaming her party’s legal troubles on former European Parliament President Martin Schulz, a social democrat. “The system’s only goal is to protect itself at all costs,” she declared to the crowd.
Drawing backing from other far-right politicians across Europe, Le Pen claimed that national leaders are being prosecuted in multiple countries, highlighting the legal troubles of her Italian ally Matteo Salvini. She also argued that opposition figures are being unfairly excluded from running for office, referencing Romanian ultranationalist Călin Georgescu as an example.
Sunday’s event, titled “Save Democracy,” was organized to demonstrate public support amid the legal controversy. Organizers claimed an expected turnout of 5,000 to 8,000 people, with supporters arriving via a fleet of buses. National Rally President Jordan Bardella later asserted that 10,000 people were in attendance.
However, visual evidence told a different story. The Place Vauban, situated near the iconic Les Invalides monument in Paris, appeared only partially filled, suggesting a significantly smaller turnout than reported.
Public rallies of this scale are unusual for the far right in France outside of election periods. National Rally Vice President Sébastien Chenu clarified ahead of the event that the gathering was not intended as a protest against the judiciary.
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