Forty-four French media groups demand RN allow press to work freely after congress expulsions

More than 40 French media organisations have demanded that Marine Le Pen's National Rally (RN) grant journalists unimpeded access to its events, after reporters were physically ejected and allegedly roughed up at the party's congress in Orléans on 24-25 October.

Forty-four outlets signed an open letter published on Tuesday, including RFI, France 24, Le Monde, Le Figaro, BFMTV, LCI, Mediapart and news agency AFP. The letter stated that it was unacceptable for journalists to be forcibly removed and mistreated at what served as Le Pen's presidential campaign launch.

The letter said political parties of all stripes must allow the press to access their events without hindrance or rough treatment.

The congress, held amid tight security and coinciding with nationwide cost-of-living protests, was the first major campaign rally for Le Pen, who leads polls ahead of presidential elections next spring.

A video crew from investigative outlet Mediapart was confronted by RN activists, jeered by the crowd and then forcibly escorted from the venue by the party's own security staff. Two reporters said they were pinned against a wall; others reported being grabbed by the collar or around the waist. The RN press team subsequently intervened, apologised and allowed the team to return.

On Sunday, plainclothes police officers and RN security staff also removed a Mediapart journalist who was filming as activists from the Union of Jewish Students in France (UEJF) disrupted a speech by party president Jordan Bardella. The congress followed Mediapart's late-September publication of alleged antisemitic writing attributed to Bardella, which he firmly denies.