French police raid headquarters of far-right National Rally

ISTANBUL

Police in France raided the headquarters of the far-right National Rally, the party leader announced on Wednesday.

"Since 8:50 this morning, the headquarters of the National Rally — including the offices of its leadership — has been the subject of a raid conducted by around twenty armed police officers from the Financial Brigade, wearing bulletproof vests, and accompanied by two investigating judges," Jordan Bardella wrote on X.

He said that the police seized all emails, documents, and accounting records underlining that the party's "entire electoral activity are now in the hands of the judiciary."

"This operation, both unprecedented and spectacular, is clearly part of a new campaign of harassment. It represents a serious attack on political pluralism and democratic alternation. Never before has an opposition party faced such relentless pressure under the Fifth Republic," Bordella added.

The European Public Prosecutor's Office on Tuesday opened a formal investigation into allegations of misuse of EU funds by the now-defunct far-right Identity and Democracy group in the European Parliament, which included France's National Rally, formerly led by Marine Le Pen.

Le Pen herself was previously found guilty by a French court in March of misusing EU funds for fake parliamentary jobs during her time as a member of the European Parliament.

The Identity and Democracy group ceased to exist in July 2024.