Today’s conference in defence of democracy and the right to stand for election—held in support of Marine Le Pen, who is currently leading in the polls in France—was disrupted by shouting and laughter from left-wing journalists. “It turned out that they lacked basic knowledge about the issues they were speaking on,” wrote MEP Patryk Jaki on X. He attached a recording of an exchange with an Italian journalist who accused him of “peddling” propaganda.
On Monday, a Paris court sentenced Le Pen to four years of imprisonment—two of which are suspended—for embezzling public funds. The court also imposed a five-year ban on her holding public office, to take effect immediately. This means that Le Pen, who has run for the presidency three times, will not be able to stand in the 2027 presidential election—unless a higher court overturns the ruling. In France, proceedings in appellate courts can take several months or even years.
“This is not democracy”
Jaki, who serves as co-chair of the European Conservatives and Reformists group, criticized the ruling against Le Pen during a joint press conference with his Italian counterpart Nicola Procaccini of the Brothers of Italy party.
“They banned Marine Le Pen—who was leading in the polls—from running in the election in order to eliminate the risk of her winning in the future. This is not democracy. And they did so despite the fact that Western democratic systems are based on the presumption of innocence and, crucially, the right to appeal. The right to appeal is a cornerstone of Western civilization. Let’s be honest—the head of the Constitutional Council who made this unprecedented decision is a longtime politician from (President Emmanuel) Macron’s party. Until recently, he was Macron’s chief of staff,”
said Jaki.
According to the MEP, this ruling deprives French citizens of “the right to choose whom they truly want.” “They see that people no longer believe in their propaganda, so now they want to take away their rights and hand them over to judges of their choosing. Judges, not citizens, will make decisions. And that’s not separation of powers, that’s not the rule of law, that’s not democracy. That is oligarchic tyranny,” Jaki added.
Left-Wing Journalist Outraged
Following Jaki’s remarks, an Italian journalist began to laugh. The Polish politician asked what she found amusing. The visibly irritated journalist responded by claiming that Jaki was “passing judgment on the independent judiciary of another country, such as France.”
“How do you dare? How could you put in You are putting yourself in a position to claim that what officials in France are doing is wrong. On what basis? You’re not even French,”
she said, raising her voice.
She added that the decision concerning Le Pen was not made by the European Commission but by French judges. “So you are judging and telling them they cannot do their jobs. In the name of what? (…) You speak of propaganda, but you are the one who is currently selling propaganda to everyone here,” she accused.
Jaki asked the journalist to introduce herself, as she had not done so earlier, and—if she was kind enough—to answer his question: “What kind of independence representing the men from the Constitutional Court who were politicians for three decades?”
The journalist did identify herself but continued to accuse the MEP of unjustly criticizing the work of French judges. Jaki repeated his question several times until the journalist declared she would end the discussion.
“Do you know who appointed him? You’re laughing in our faces, so I ask: do you know who appointed him? You don’t, so I’ll tell you. As you can see, Madame didn’t know who appointed the head of the Constitutional Court who decided that Marine Le Pen could not run in the election, even though she had no right to appeal. So I’ll answer. Macron appointed him after he lost the election as a candidate from Macron’s party. […] The judiciary is from Macron, the executive is from Macron—does that sound like a fair separation of powers?”
concluded the MEP.