France’s National Rally plans to protest against what it has called the “tyranny of judges” even after an appeals court said in a surprise statement late Tuesday that it should be able to rule by mid-2026 on a challenge by Marine Le Pen over her conviction this week.

Le Pen was found guilty of embezzlement on Monday and given an immediate five-year ban on running for office, seemingly thwarting her ambition to replace President Emmanuel Macron when his term ends. If the appeals court were to find in Le Pen’s favor or say the ban needn’t apply straight away, it would come in time for her to run in the presidential race in 2027.

National Rally President Jordan Bardella, who railed against the ruling early Tuesday, condemned violence and threats against judges later that day and called for the protest this weekend to be peaceful. That didn’t stop the judges who issued the Le Pen ruling from needing police protection due to personal threats against them, according to French media reports.

National Rally lawmaker Sebastien Chenu on Wednesday morning pushed back on the idea that Sunday’s protest targets France’s judges. “It’s a demonstration for democracy in support of Marine Le Pen,” he said on France Inter radio. “There has been a real undermining of democracy, Marine Le Pen is the victim of it and through her the millions for French who want to vote for her.”

At a weekly meeting of ministers on Wednesday, Macron said the threats against the judges were “unbearable and intolerable” and called for the independence of the judiciary to be respected, according to government spokeswoman Sophie Primas.

France’s politics have been in a state of upheaval for most of the last year after Macron lost his parliamentary majority in a snap election. Le Pen’s party scored a historic result in the first round of that vote but was kept out of power after establishment parties joined forces to block some of her candidates. That move had already stoked distrust among her backers.

Le Pen was convicted by the Paris criminal court of misusing money allocated to pay aides when she was a member of the European Parliament. The panel of judges found the assistants were spearheading the National Rally’s domestic agenda, rather than working on E.U. matters.

Le Pen was also found guilty of encouraging others to do the same with their own allocation, bringing the total embezzled funds to about €4.4 million ($4.7 million). Paris judges mentioned the risk of a repeat offense to justify the immediate ban for Le Pen. She and the party have denied the allegations.

Touted by pollsters as a front-runner for the 2027 presidential race, Le Pen has long described the accusations against her as politically motivated. “The system has pulled out the nuclear bomb because we’re about to win the election,” she said on Tuesday.

The National Rally said that it had gathered 300,000 signatures showing support for Le Pen in 24 hours following her conviction and had signed up 10,000 new party members.

With its Tuesday statement, the Paris court of appeals displayed rare speed.

The head of France’s top court said the plan by his counterparts for a fast ruling is “a very good thing.” It shows that the judiciary “is able to adapt” and is “aware of the stakes,” Christophe Soulard told BFM TV late Tuesday.

In a case similar but unrelated to the Le Pen one, members of France’s centrist Modem party were accused of misusing the very same budget allocation meant for assistants of elected European Parliament lawmakers.

Modem members were handed a ruling in February 2024 — and it was issued by judges from the same Paris court chamber as for Le Pen. A year later, no hearing has yet been scheduled for an appeal. Those facing trial haven’t even received a date to discuss scheduling, as is customary for major cases.

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With assistance from Julien Ponthus.

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