Bardella calls for justice overhaul and Darmanin’s resignation after Lyhanna tragedy

Political storm after a child’s death

Two weeks after the disappearance of Lyhanna, an 11-year-old schoolgirl, and the discovery of her body on 4 June, the case has opened a bitter political confrontation. The suspect, Jérôme Barella, had been flagged for sexual violence against minors but had not been heard by the justice system eight months after the alerts were raised.

Jordan Bardella, president of the Rassemblement National, broke his silence on BFMTV on Sunday evening, calling the affair a turning point.

This affair is a turning point in the life of our country.

A failing justice system

Bardella argued that the tragedy exposed a State “increasingly incapable of protecting the French”. He pointed to magistrate shortages and a “problem of doctrine” that allowed lenient treatment of sexual offenders.

There are four times fewer prosecutors in France than there are at the European level.

The RN chief proposed doubling the number of magistrates, creating a “national prosecutor’s office specialised for minor victims”, and introducing real life imprisonment (perpétuité réelle incompressible) for sexual predators with no possibility of release. He explicitly rejected the death penalty but called for zero tolerance on sentence adjustments.

Macron and Darmanin under fire

Bardella accused President Emmanuel Macron of failing to protect the French, recalling a 2017 promise to build 15,000 new prison places. Only 4,000 had been built, he said, while France was 40,000 places short of the European average.

He is bequeathing to his successor a country where there is no longer a single parent who does not fear for the safety of his child.

Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin, Bardella said, should have resigned “by honour”. Marine Le Pen, who earlier in the week had doubted the usefulness of resignation calls, aligned with Bardella on Sunday. Appearing on France 3, she said Darmanin “should at least have presented his resignation” and blamed his reform of the judicial police as “a catastrophe”.

Nobody is ever responsible for anything in politics, and that is unacceptable.

A timeline of the Lyhanna affair

Le Pen also insisted that the “essential responsibility” rested with politicians, not judges, and called for a complete refoundation of the justice system. Darmanin, previously the most popular minister in polls, saw his ratings slide after the affair brought judicial procedures into question.