Right-wing commentators followed leading conservative politicians in expressing their concerns on social media on Monday after a French court sentenced Marine Le Pen to a four-year prison, also banning her from running for office for five years.
“Lawfare against the European right-wing is being taken to a whole new level,” said Dutch commentator Eva Vlaardingerbroek on X, pointing out that meanwhile, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the EU Commission, is still refusing to release her email deal with Pfizer for €35bn of vaccine purchases. Lawyer Raisa Blommestijn, convicted earlier this year for “group insult” for expressing undesirable opinions about a violent migrant crime on social media, called Le Pen “a victim of judicial activism that hounds and condemns politicians on the right and now even intervenes in the democratic process.”
The decision generated reactions from overseas as well. Elon Musk, the billionaire top adviser to US President Donald Trump, called a French court ruling Monday barring far-right leader Marine Le Pen from running for election in 2027 “abuse” and said it would “backfire.”
“This will backfire, like the legal attacks against President Trump,” Musk wrote on X, drawing comparisons to the Biden administration’s efforts to silence their opposition by lawsuit. “When the radical left can’t win via democratic vote, they abuse the legal system to jail their opponents,” Musk commented.
Mike Benz, executive director of American Foundation for Freedom Online, also drew comparisons to Trump and other conservative politicians:
Marine Le Pen in France, Bolsonaro in Brazil, Imran Khan in Pakistan, Matteo Salvini in Italy, Donald Trump in America, Calin Georgescu in Romania.
The criminal prosecution of every populist challenger is a dagger in the heart of the credibility of democracy.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the verdict reinforced the view put out by Moscow that “more and more European capitals are going down the path of violating democratic norms.”
europeanconservative.com/AFP
