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rejection of his release request

The Paris Court of Appeal again rejected Monday a request for release of the mayor of Levallois-Perret Patrick Balkany, 71, a week before the opening of his trial on appeal for aggravated laundering.

The court also rejected a request to lower the bail of 500,000 euros imposed on the elected official – currently incarcerated in the Parisian prison of Health – as part of the judicial review granted after his conviction for tax fraud. Believing that a “risk of flight“And noting that the accused had himself admitted to having concealed considerable assets abroad, the court considered that the continued detention of the elected official was”the only way to keep Patrick Balkany at the disposal of justice“. A decision immediately denounced by the wife and first deputy of the mayor, Isabelle Balkany, who declared on the microphone of BFMTV:I am both desperate and mad with rage. Desperate because clearly I accuse the justice of wanting to kill my husband“.

The mayor’s lawyer had expressed his misunderstanding at the end of the hearing, saying “very worriedFor his client, just back in the Health prison after a new intervention in the hospital last week. Recalling that his client had “lost 24 kg in four months“, Me Romain Dieudonné indicated not knowing”at this stage“If Patrick Balkany would be able to attend his appeal trial from next Monday”If the objective is for him to attend the hearings in February, he will not be there because he is physically unable to be there.“Said Isabelle Balkany, saying that her husband was”in mortal danger“. In its judgment, the Court of Appeal held that “there is no reason to fear that Patrick Balkany’s condition will not be taken into account“And stresses that the prison administration has been”perfectly responsiveBy having Patrick Balkany hospitalized when necessary.

At first instance, the elected official was sentenced twice: to four years in prison for tax fraud on September 13, and a month later, to five years in prison for aggravated money laundering. His wife was sentenced to three years for fraud and four years suspended for money laundering. Castigating an anchorage in a “highly remunerative delinquency“, The criminal court had reproached the couple for having defrauded the tax authorities, estimating at 4 million euros the evaded sums, and for having concealed 13 million euros of assets between 2007 and 2014, in particular two sumptuous villas with West Indies and Marrakech.

The convictions of the former baron of Hauts-de-Seine were, each time, accompanied by a warrant, resulting in his immediate imprisonment. Since December 12, he has been hospitalized practically without interruption. In support of his third request for release, his lawyer had produced, in vain, medical certificates attesting to a “deterioration of general condition“From his client and also pointed out that”Patrick Balkany will not be a candidate for municipal elections” Of March: “This is an important factor insofar as, at first instance, the court sentenced him to an ineligibility sentence (of ten years)“.

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