Le Pen ruling unleashes wave of hypocrisy on populist right

In a democracy, the rule of law is not an option, but the very condition of its existence: Impartial, unyielding and blind to power. But this ideal is increasingly under siege. Not from anarchists or revolutionaries, but from the self-proclaimed defenders of law and order, namely far-right parties in Europe and beyond.

France’s Marine Le Pen — convicted last week in a national court for embezzling over €4 million in European Parliament funds — is a case in point. The verdict against the leader of the French National Rally was unambiguous: Le Pen and her party systematically diverted money intended for parliamentary assistants to pay for National Rally staff in France, audaciously flouting European Union regulations..