Judiciary must be protected, says Macron, as judge who sentenced Le Pen put under guard

Marine Le Pen was convicted of embezzlement and banned from elections for five years. Photograph: Samson Thomas/Abaca/Rex/Shutterstock

Emmanuel Macron has said the French judiciary is independent and must be protected as a judge was put under police guard after sentencing Marine Le Pen to an immediate ban from running for office.

Speaking on Wednesday, two days after the far-right leader’s conviction for the embezzlement of European parliament funds, the French president told ministers that “judges must be protected” and that “all litigants have the right to appeal.”