Macron bemoans threats to Le Pen judge

France's President Emmanuel Macron has criticized supporters of the high-profile, far-right politician Marine Le Pen who made death threats against the judge who found her guilty of embezzlement and excluded her from running in the next presidential election.

Macron said "threats made against judges are absolutely unbearable and intolerable" and highlighted the fact "that the judiciary is independent" as he opened a weekly meeting of government ministers on Wednesday, his spokesperson, Sophie Primas, told reporters.

She said he also told ministers "the law is the same for everyone" in France and that Le Pen was neither victimized nor treated leniently.

Primas said Macron also observed that Le Pen will have the same right to appeal against her conviction and sentence as anyone else, because "all defendants have the right to legal recourse".

Macron made the comments after the Reuters news agency reported Benedicte de Perthuis, the judge who barred Le Pen from running in France's 2027 presidential election, had been given police protection after being bombarded with threats. Reuters said far-right thugs had also shared De Perthuis's address online.

De Perthuis led a three-judge panel that found Le Pen guilty of embezzling European Union funds and using the money to support the activities of her National Rally, or RN, political party.

On Monday, she was handed a suspended sentence, a period of electronic monitoring, a fine, and a five-year ban on seeking public office. Reuters said the judge who passed the sentence is now receiving police protection at home and at work.

France's Le Monde newspaper said Le Pen's fellow RN grandee, Jordan Bardella, has denied there has been a coordinated attempt to intimidate the judiciary since the verdict and said a demonstration the party has called for on Sunday in support of Le Pen will not be "a power play".

Bardella, who is a member of the European Parliament, added: "On the contrary, it is a very clear and very deep defense of the rule of law and of French democracy. It is a mobilization not against, but in support of French democracy. We felt it necessary ... to speak directly to the French people, through the speeches of our party leaders on Sunday."

Le Pen was expected to have been a major force in the 2027 presidential election and current polling suggests she would win the first round.

Macron, who will not be able to run in the 2027 election because of term limitations, has said the rise of the far-right has been one of the biggest challenges of his presidency.

Le Pen, who has said she plans to appeal her conviction, has contested three presidential elections. France's appeal court said this week her appeal could be heard in time for her to run in 2027.