Le Pen’s Party Gains 20k+ Members after Court Verdict

By Staff, Agencies

The French National Rally party has gained thousands of new members, following Marine le Pen's sentencing by the French court for embezzling European Parliament funds for her party's benefit.

French National Rally faction leader Marine Le Pen said over 20,000 new members have joined the party since her guilty verdict was announced, with a petition in her support gathering more than 500,000 signatures, in a Friday post on X.

“Since Monday, a huge number of people have expressed their indignation. Half a million signatures on the petition that we launched, more than 20,000 new members of the National Rally,” Le Pen's post reads.

The leader of the National Rally Jordan Bardella had earlier announced the launch of a petition against “the dictatorship of judges,” and the headline “Support Marine!”

Le Pen was found guilty of large-scale embezzlement of European parliament funds on April 1 and was sentenced to four years in prison, two of which were suspended and two of which will be served outside of jail while wearing an electronic bracelet, and a fine of 100,000 euros [84,000 dollars].

The judge announced that the French far-right figure had been found guilty of embezzling public funds, while eight other party lawmakers were also convicted and around 12 deputies were found guilty of concealing information, with all verdicts delivered in the same ruling.

The far-right leader told TF1 television on Monday night that she would pursue whatever legal avenues she could to avoid being eliminated from the presidential elections, adding that she is determined to challenge the decision and continue her political campaign, emphasizing she is "not going to submit to a denial of democracy this easily."

The five-year ban on running for public office took effect immediately, ensuring its applicability even as Le Pen proceeds with her appeal against the verdict, while neither the prison sentence nor the fine will be enforced until all appeals are exhausted, a process that could extend for years.

Facing trial in November over allegations of misusing EU funds—with around €7 million, originally allocated for European Parliament staff, allegedly diverted to pay party workers in France—were Le Pen and 24 other RN members, including party officials, employees, MEPs, and assistants.