Le Pen evokes spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. as supporters rally in Paris

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen on Sunday said she would peacefully fight her five-year ban from running for office and draw inspiration from American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., as thousands of people rallied in Paris to support her.

DAILY POST reports that a Paris court convicted Le Pen and two dozen National Rally party members of embezzling EU funds last week and imposed a sentence that will prevent her from standing in France’s 2027 presidential election unless she can get the ruling overturned within 18 months.

Le Pen, in a video appearance for Italian Matteo Salvini’s anti-immigration Lega party, which was holding a meeting in Florence, said they would follow Martin Luther King as an example.

“Our fight will be a peaceful fight, a democratic fight. We will follow Martin Luther King, who defended civil rights, as an example,” she said.

Her supporters waved French flags and chanted “we will win” as they gathered in central Paris on Sunday afternoon for a peaceful protest, which could give an indication of how much popular backing there is for her accusations that prosecutors in the case sought her “political death”.

At the time of filing this report, there was no immediate police estimate of attendance at Sunday’s protest, but organisers said about 15,000 people had gathered.