Lawfare – Silencing Political Rivals Abroad

Right-wing leader Marine Le Pen’s appeals trial could impact the entire EU.

Politics is such an ugly business, especially when lawfare is involved. Why persuade voters to choose the best candidate when you can simply remove your opponent through the courts? A quote often attributed to communist dictator Joseph Stalin’s secret police chief Lavrentiy Beria comes to mind: “Show me the man and I’ll show you the crime.” The French progressive establishment appears to have embraced Beria’s declaration, targeting right-wing populist leader Marine Le Pen. Will the European Union follow suit?

Le Pen recently urged a Paris court to overturn an embezzlement conviction that declared her guilty of mishandling European Parliament funds. She was sentenced to two years of house arrest with an electronic bracelet, an additional two-year suspended sentence, and a 100,000-euro ($116,800) fine. If she’s indeed guilty, it’s easy to argue that those punishments are appropriate. But that’s not all the courts handed down: She was also barred from holding elected office for five years, and that’s where things get really interesting. See, Le Pen intended to appear as the National Rally candidate during France’s presidential election next year – that is, until she was abruptly blocked from the ballot.

There’s no denying Le Pen has been a thorn in the side of the French establishment for years. President Emmanuel Macron defeated Le Pen for the nation’s top elected office in 2022, but after securing an unprecedented number of votes for the right-wing party, Le Pen showed no signs of slowing down. By the end of 2025, polls showed the French people preferred the National Rally in a potential legislative election, with Macron’s party falling to third place.

As power appeared to shift to the right, one must wonder if the judge who found Le Pen guilty last March did so legitimately or if it was a political move to shut down the establishment’s most formidable opponent.

Marine Le Pen vs Lawfare

“I would like to say to the court right now that if a crime has been committed … so be it, but I want the court to know that we never felt like we had committed even the slightest offense,” Le Pen told a three-judge panel last week.

The remarks come after months of protestations in which Le Pen has maintained her innocence, arguing the conviction was politically motivated. Until she was banned from running for office, Le Pen was widely considered the most popular candidate in France’s upcoming presidential election.

Le Pen said her “sole line of defense” in the appeal “will be the same as during the first instance trial: to tell the truth.”

“The case will be reset from scratch, and will be judged by new magistrates,” she added. “I hope to be better heard, and to convince them of my innocence.”

It’s a noble goal, to be sure. But is it a realistic one? In the age of lawfare, legal outcomes appear less about innocence or guilt and more about whether a defendant has become politically inconvenient.

That’s not to say Le Pen should throw in the towel. She should try to expose a weaponized court if, in fact, that’s the truth. And if her conviction is upheld, the good people of France will surely elect her protégé, Jordan Bardella. But it’s also important to understand what opponents of the establishment are up against. “There was a time when you could take a bullet. Now you can take a judicial bullet,” Le Pen previously told La Tribune Dimanche. “ In reality, that means your death.”