After Le Pen ruling, accusations of 'lawfare' land in France

French far-right leader and member of parliament Marine Le Pen, President of the French far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National - RN) party parliamentary group, attends the questions to the government session at the National Assembly in Paris, France, April 1, 2025. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

PARIS (Reuters) - When French far-right leader Marine Le Pen accused the judiciary of deploying a "nuclear bomb" to blow up her presidential hopes, she added France to the countries where accusations of "lawfare" - political meddling by judges - are gaining currency.

A Paris court convicted Le Pen and two dozen figures from her National Rally (RN) party of embezzling EU funds on Monday. It handed Le Pen an immediate five-year ban on running for office that will bar her from the 2027 presidential election unless she can get the ruling overturned on appeal before then.