China News Agency, Paris, June 29 (Reporter Li Yang) The French Misdemeanor Tribunal handed down a judgement on the "empty rate" case of the French Prime Minister Fillon and his wife on the 29th local time. The Fillon and his wife were found guilty, and both were sentenced and sentenced to high fines.
Fillon was sentenced to 5 years’ imprisonment on the same day, suspended for 3 years, and deprived of 10 years of right to vote. Fillon’s wife Penelope was sentenced to 3 years’ imprisonment and suspended, while the two were also fined 375,000 euros. . In addition, the Fillon and his wife were ordered to return their illegal income and compensated the French National Assembly with 400,000 euros.
The former French lawmaker Julou, who was involved in the "empty rates" case of the Fillon couple, was also sentenced to three years in prison by the court, suspended for execution, and fined 20,000 euros.
The court's ruling and sentencing of the Fillon couple basically maintained the relevant requirements of the prosecution. The prosecutor accused Fillon of arranging his wife Penelope as an assistant to the parliament for more than ten years, but she did not actually engage in related work and illegally earned more than 600,000 euros in income.
Fillon tried to describe his wife’s assistant work as "essential" during the trial, including "on time and precise service" such as "mail management", but he failed to convince the judge of the actual work necessity. In reading the verdict, the judge pointed out that the salary paid to Fillon’s wife was “disproportionate” to the work she completed, and the relevant position was actually vacant.
The Fionds and Mrs. both wore masks when they appeared in court that day and did not comment on the case outside the court. After the verdict was announced, the Fillon and his wife indicated through their lawyers that they would appeal.
Fillon is 66 years old and has been active in French politics for a long time. He served as French Prime Minister from 2007 to 2012. Fillon participated in the 2017 French presidential election as a candidate for the French Republican Party, but because of the exposure of the "rates" incident, public opinion plummeted, and he was eliminated in the first round of the presidential election. (Finish)