French far-right website “Reseau Libre” (Free Network) has called for the “assassination” of certain left-wing politicians, journalists, activists, and lawyers following the Right’s disappointing results in France’s second round of elections on Sunday.
“Reseau Libre” first called for a general attack to “neutralize” a whole list of “targets who have assumed enemy status,” saying the call should be heeded using “firearms, knives, crossbows, or pickaxe handles.”
Four MPs or former MPs from the La France Insoummsie (LFI) and the Communist Party appear on the list: Manuel Bompard, Rachel Keke, Ian Brossat, Lawyer Yassine Bouzrou, and Alexis Corbière.
Corbière, LFI MP, expressed his concern via X (formerly Twitter) on Monday. “I’m worried to discover that a far-right website, which calls for the murder of left-wing politicians and lawyers, is publishing my address,” he said. “These threats must stop!”
Manuel Bompard, MP and national coordinator of LFI, did not react directly to the attacks. Instead, he reposted a tweet from the first secretary of the PS, Olivier Faure, declaring, “The far right is not admitting defeat. It is now calling for murder. Full support for the victims designated by these criminals.”
Communist Party Senator Ian Brossat tweeted: “After threatening lawyers, the far right is calling for the murder of left-wing elected representatives,” he said. “I have the honor of being on this list. Obviously, I’m lodging a [police] complaint.”
Last week, the website drew up a list of around a hundred lawyers to be “eliminated,” describing them as “scum” and “black-robed vermin” for having signed an article published in Marianne calling for a barrier against the National Rally (RN), in the name of loyalty to “the principles of law, fundamental freedoms, and the republican values of liberty, equality and fraternity.”
The union quickly mobilized to back the lawyers concerned, and the Minister of Justice, Éric Dupond-Moretti, strongly condemned the threats. The President of the Paris Bar, Pierre Hoffman, immediately filed a complaint with the police.
Lawyer Yassine Bouzrou, known for defending families who have been victims of police violence, notably that of young Nahel and Adama Traoré, is one of the targets of this new call for violence. He has filed a complaint with the National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office.
Meanwhile, an investigation into alleged illegal campaign financing by far-right leader Marine Le Pen and her National Rally party has been opened. The investigation comes just after her party suffered a stunning election setback at the hands of a tactical left-wing coalition, the Irish Sun reported.
The criminal probe is linked to Le Pen’s unsuccessful presidential candidacy in 2022, and followed “a report to the courts by the National Commission for Campaign Accounts and Political Financing.”
The probe is likely to be connected to charges that the RN misused taxpayer funds provided by the European Parliament.
There is reportedly substantial proof that Le Pen unlawfully acquired 620,000 Euros on behalf of her party.
Le Pen, 55, is not new to legal issues. She was found guilty in an embezzlement trial scheduled to begin in Paris in September. She faced up to ten years in jail and a ban on holding political office.
The embezzlement inquiry began in March 2015, when the European Parliament reported to the EU’s anti-fraud office potential anomalies regarding the salaries of parliamentary helpers, including Le Pen’s bodyguard.
Le Pen is suspected of directly channeling around 13,492 Euros in unlawfully obtained EU funding into party coffers while serving as an MEP from 2004 to 2017.
As the fraud probe continues, Le Pen’s political destiny hangs in the balance. If convicted in the impending embezzlement trial, she may be prevented from competing in the 2027 presidential election, despite her desire to become France’s future president.
The lawsuit also includes 12 other members of the RN, formerly known as the National Front, as well as Le Pen’s father, the 95-year-old party founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, who was ruled unable to face trial due to his age.