French police probe death threats against judge and prosecutors trying Le Pen

By Gabriel Stargardter

PARIS (Reuters) - French police have opened an investigation into death threats against a judge and two prosecutors involved in a corruption trial of far-right leader Marine Le Pen in which she could be barred from contesting the 2027 presidential election, police and judicial sources said.

The abuse fits into a pattern of threats against judges, prosecutors and elected officials in France and underlines deep divisions over the case.

Le Pen is front-runner to win the next presidential election, due in April 2027, opinion polls show. She, her National Rally (RN) party and some two dozen party figures are accused of diverting European funds to pay staff in France. They deny the accusations.

Louise Neyton and Nicolas Barret, the prosecutors leading the case, are seeking a five-year ban from public office for Le Pen if she is found guilty. The ban would not be subject to appeal.

A panel of three judges, led by Bénédicte de Perthuis, is due to deliver its verdict on March 31.

Police opened their investigation after Neyton, Barret and De Perthuis received death threats from people writing in the comments section on far-right website Riposte Laïque, four sources from the police and judiciary said.

Reuters has reviewed the online threats but was unable to identify the commentators to seek comment from them.

De Perthuis deserved a "9mm bullet in the back of (her) neck," "Francois Desvignes" wrote in the comments section of an Oct. 6 Riposte Laïque article. The article denounced "a Stalinist trial set up to ruin" the RN and featured a photo of De Perthuis.

Another commentator called "Job" said De Perthuis should be "eliminated as soon as possible."

Last Nov. 14, the day after Neyton and Barret sought the five-year ban on Le Pen holding political office if found guilty, their work emails were shared in the comments section of a Riposte Laïque article that said they would "be held accountable to the people." The article included Barret's photo.

One commentator on the article, "folavoine", said they should be shot on sight.

'MORTAL DANGER'

The threats are being investigated by Paris' Brigade for the Repression of Crime against Persons (BRDP), the sources said.

The Paris Police Prefecture, which houses the BRDP, confirmed an investigation was under way. It referred questions to the Paris prosecutors' office, which declined comment.

In a Jan. 19 editorial, Riposte Laïque said its director Guy Sebag had been questioned, via email, by BRDP officers, and that it had deleted the death threats. However, archived versions of the articles can be found.

"These texts, which have escaped our vigilance, put us in mortal danger," the editorial said, adding that the site on average receives between 500 and 1,000 comments per day, with at least 300 deleted daily for racism or legal problems.

Riposte Laïque had around 350,000 page views in December, according to an independent estimate. Founded in 2007, the website says it "brings together patriots from the left and the right who do not accept the Islamisation of their country."

Sebag declined to comment to Reuters.

Allies of Le Pen have criticised what they see as judicial overreach, echoing how U.S. President Donald Trump and former Brazilian leader Jair Bolsonaro reacted to legal cases against them. Both said they were victims of an illegal witch hunt.

On Nov. 8, France's High Council for the Judiciary (CSM), which oversees the legal system, expressed concern about recent threats against magistrates and underlined the importance of judicial independence.

Ludovic Friat, president of the country's largest union of magistrates, said it was inevitable France would succumb to a global wave of anti-establishment rage.

"France isn't an island," Friat said. "There's no reason for us to escape what we have seen in other countries."

(Reporting by Gabriel Stargardter, Editing by Richard Lough and Timothy Heritage)