Guilty. François Fillon, his wife, Penelope, and his former parliamentary assistant Marc Joulaud were found guilty, Monday, June 29, of embezzlement of public funds, complicity and concealment.
The former prime minister was sentenced to five years ‘imprisonment, including two years’ imprisonment, a fine of 375,000 euros and a ten-year ineligibility sentence. Doing “Prevail his personal interest over the common interest” for the purpose of” personal enrichment “, François Fillon, 66, “Helped erode trust” citizens, said the president of the court, Nathalie Gavarino. His sentence is not suitable, but, in the absence of a warrant, this retiree from politics and converted into finance will remain free until his trial on appeal.
Contracts that had “no consistency”
His wife, Penelope Fillon, who had notably signed three parliamentary assistant contracts with her deputy husband and his deputy in Sarthe, Marc Joulaud, between 1998 and 2013, was sentenced to three years suspended prison, 375 000 euros fine and two years of ineligibility – she has just been re-elected city councilor of her commune, Solesmes. For the court, his contracts had “No consistency” and only responded to “No need”.
Marc Joulaud, outgoing mayor of Sablé-sur-Sarthe, beaten Sunday evening in the municipal elections but elected to the municipal council, was meanwhile sentenced to three years suspended prison sentence, 20,000 euros suspended fine and five years of ineligibility.
Public funds from the National Assembly and the Senate diverted under M contractsme Fillon and the couple’s children amount, according to the court, to nearly 1,156,000 euros. Only the assembly was made civil party. The defendants are ordered to pay him more than one million euros in damages, in reimbursement of the sums received.
The Fillon couple appeal
Until early afternoon, uncertainty had prevailed over the rendering of this judgment due of a request to reopen defense proceedings. She hoped to bounce back on recent statements by the former head of the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF), Eliane Houlette, who recently reported on “Pressures” of his hierarchy during the investigation.
The court considered that the “Principle of separation of powers was not an obstacle” and refused to comply with the request of lawyers for the former prime minister. “Nothing could have justified the remuneration received”said the president of the court.
The former Prime Minister and his wife are appealing the sentence, said their lawyers after the judgment. “This decision, which is not fair, will be appealed (…), there will be a new trial “, thus announced to the press Antonin Lévy, counsel to Mr. Fillon. Penelope Fillon’s lawyer, Pierre Cornut-Gentille, has denounced a sentence ” severe “.
“There will be a new trial, it is all the more necessary since, for the past few days, we have finally begun to understand what we sense since 2017, the bleak conditions in which this investigation was launched, the scandalous conditions in which this investigation was opened, the surprising conditions in which the investigations were then carried out “, affirmed Mr. Lévy.
What M describesme Houlette, in particular pressing requests for feedback, is not illegal but has rekindled accusations of instrumentalization of justice in the Fillon clan and led Emmanuel Macron to seize the Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM) for opinion ).
Defense, which denounces an investigation for three years “Dependent” carried out in the middle of the presidential campaign, hoped that the court awaits the opinion of the CSM and the end of the parliamentary commission of inquiry on the independence of the justice, before which Mme Houlette, to discuss and rule on it.
Complicity in concealing abuse of social property
Given favorite to the presidential, François Fillon, cantor of the conservative right, had finally been eliminated in the first round after a campaign undermined by this affair that had revealed The chained Duck.
In addition, the couple was convicted of complicity in concealing misuse of social property concerning the alleged use of Penelope Fillon at The Review of the two worlds, the president evoking “A hiring of convenience intended to ensure an additional income” to the couple.
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