Judge who sentenced Marine Le Pen under police protection amid online threats

While far-right politician Marine Le Pen vowed to appeal the conviction she was handed on Monday, the judge who presided over her case has faced a torrent of intimidating online reactions.

Bénédicte de Perthuis, the judge who sentenced Le Pen for embezzling EU funds and barred her from running in France's 2027 presidential election, was placed under police protection on Monday night over alleged death threats she received, domestic press reported.

The fiery fallout came her way as some took offence at what they claim is political revanchism — despite de Perthuis herself emphasising that the role of the court and her as a judge was to treat Le Pen's case like any other.

“Equality before the law is a pillar of democracy. Elected officials enjoy no impunity," said de Perthuis on Monday, before she issued a judgment, which she had worked on with two other high-profile judges.

On Monday Le Pen left the courtroom before her sentence was handed down, writing on X, "I'm told it's a judicial decision, but no, it's a political one."

Along with 24 other National Rally (RN) members, Le Pen was found guilty of a scheme using money intended for European Parliament aides to pay staff who worked for the party at its head office in France.

The parliamentary leader of the National Rally in France's National Assembly was handed a four-year prison sentence, with two of those years suspended and two to be served outside jail with an electronic bracelet. 

Back in January, the Paris Public Prosecutor's office launched a probe into death threats posted on the far-right website Riposte Laïque — which have since been deleted — under an article entitled "A Stalinist trial set up to ruin the RN."

The threats followed the culmination of Le Pen's