By Gabriel Stargardter
PARIS (Reuters) – (Note offensive language in paragraph 2)
A man has been arrested on suspicion of making death threats against the judge who barred French far-right leader Marine Le Pen from running for president in 2027, a public prosecutor’s office said.
The prosecutor’s office in Bobigny, northeast of Paris, said on Wednesday that the 76-year-old man, whose name was not given, had published a photograph of a guillotine on his X account and written “This is what the bitch deserves” in reference to judge Benedicte de Perthuis who convicted Le Pen.
De Perthuis was placed under police protection after receiving death threats and having her home address shared online. Photos of her have also been published on social media and far-right political websites.
The man, who resides in the Paris suburb of La Garenne-Colombes, was taken into custody around 10.30 am on Tuesday. He is suspected of death threats and contempt against a judicial official, the prosecutor’s’ office said.
De Perthuis convicted Le Pen and two dozen figures from her National Rally (RN) party last month of embezzling EU funds. She handed Le Pen an immediate five-year ban on running for office that will bar her from the 2027 presidential election unless the ruling is overturned on appeal next summer.
Le Pen has said she is the victim of a witch hunt and her punishment amounts to judgeds meddling in democracy. She has criticized death threats against judges and pledged to pursue all legal means to overturn her ban.
(Reporting by Gabriel Stargardter; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Peter Graff)
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