Besançon (AFP)

Belfort MP LR for the Territory of Belfort, Ian Boucard, was found guilty on Friday of "misappropriation of voters' votes by fraudulent scheme" after the dissemination of false leaflets as part of the 2017 legislative campaign.

He was fined 7,500 euros by the Besançon criminal court, which did not, however, impose an ineligibility sentence.

The Besançon public prosecutor's office has appealed this decision. "The sentence is not adapted to the gravity of the facts," said the prosecutor of the Republic of Besançon, Etienne Manteaux, who had required three years of ineligibility and 5,000 euros fine against the deputy during the court hearing in mid-May.

Ian Boucard said he was "surprised" by the court's decision and reiterated his "good faith" in a statement.

According to the deputy, "the court did not retain the ineligibility sanction on the grounds that it would have amounted to contradict the universal suffrage expressed by the Terrifortaines and Terrifortains".

"Justice recognizes the guilt of the deputy Ian Boucard. This is the most important for me," said Christophe Grudler, Modem-LREM opponent defeated by Mr. Boucard in 2017.

For the current MEP, "this repairs a deep injustice towards the voters of the Territoire de Belfort, who were robbed this election by manipulation, fraud, cheating on a large scale".

Ian Boucard was tried for distributing, between the two rounds of the legislative elections in June 2017, 25,000 leaflets falsely imputed to the National Front (which has since become National Rally) and to La France Insoumise.

These edited leaflets, printed and distributed by the team of Mr. Boucard and his deputy, the mayor of Belfort Damien Meslot, called for a vote against Christophe Grudler, who was in the lead after the first round.

Mr. Boucard narrowly won the second round (50.75% of the vote, a difference of 275 votes), but Mr. Grudler contested the election.

In December 2017, the Constitutional Council invalidated the election of Mr. Boucard and a by-election was held in February 2018.

Ian Boucard had won again, more widely than in 2017, still against Christophe Grudler.

"This is a very significant conviction," said Mr. Grudler's lawyer Randall Schwerdorffer to AFP.

"The voters of the Territoire de Belfort will always have a fraudster to represent them in the National Assembly. A man who writes the law, but who does not respect it," added Mr. Grudler.

© 2020 AFP