This week, a French court found far-right leader Marine Le Pen guilty of embezzling millions of euros in European Union funds, resulting in a five-year ban on her running for public office. This decision, which rules her out of the 2027 presidential race, has ignited widespread outrage among her supporters.
The timing of her conviction, coming shortly after Romania annulled the victory of a far-right candidate in an election, has intensified a broader debate across Europe and the U.S. about the role of the judiciary in political matters. Some argue that courts are undermining the will of the people by removing candidates from the political arena, while others defend the court's decision as a necessary upholding of the law, regardless of political affiliation.
Critics of the verdict, particularly within Europe's nationalist right-wing groups and figures like Donald Trump, suggest that such legal actions are an effort to stifle political opposition.
They claim that when democratic means fail, the left resorts to "lawfare"—using the legal system as a weapon to defeat political rivals.
In contrast, proponents of the verdict assert that no one is above the law and that institutions must remain impartial, even when it means challenging popular political figures.