‘Jesus Christ also was found guilty and he was innocent,’ Le Pen codefendant says

PARIS — In a moment of great adversity, Bruno Gollnisch turned to Christ.

Gollnisch, a former member of the European Parliament for the French far-right National Rally (RN), was found guilty on Monday alongside former RN President Marine Le Pen of embezzling funds from the EU institution. He was sentenced to three years in prison — two of them suspended — fined €50,000, and barred from running for public office for the next five years.

When asked about the charges during an interview with Times Radio following the verdict, Gollnisch said: “Jesus Christ also was found guilty and he was innocent.”

“I do not compare Marine Le Pen with Jesus Christ but she is innocent and so am I,” Gollnisch said.

The 75-year-old, a former close ally of Le Pen’s father, Jean-Marie, claimed that the verdict meant “the end of democracy in France” and compared Le Pen’s fate to that of Romanian ultranationalist Călin Georgescu. Georgescu was disqualified from running for president after his country’s top court found undeclared campaign financing and fraudulent use of digital technologies, with an alleged Russian operation seen as having influenced the result.

Asked about the risk of violence erupting as a result of the verdict, Gollnisch said the French were “very peaceful people, and I think maybe a little bit too peaceful.”

Monday’s verdict saw Le Pen immediately barred from standing from public office for five years, likely dashing her hopes of running for president in 2027.

The sentencing has triggered a flurry of strong reactions from Le Pen’s allies at home and abroad. Both National Rally President Jordan Bardella, who is expected to step in if Le Pen cannot run, and Sébastien Chenu, a party vice president, said barring Le Pen from running for the presidency was antidemocratic.

Le Pen — who in 2013 argued that elected officials sentenced for “actions committed as a result of their mandates” should be banned from running for public office for life — has appealed the court’s decision and continues to deny any wrongdoing.