François and Penelope Fillon were tried in March 2020 for “embezzlement of public funds” and “abuse of corporate assets”.
Penelope Fillon is suspected of having held a fictitious job as a collaborator alongside her when he was a deputy.
The former Prime Minister was sentenced to five years' imprisonment, two of which were firm, a fine of 375,000 euros and ten years of ineligibility.
His wife had received a three-year suspended prison sentence, a fine of 375,000 euros and two years of ineligibility.
This Monday, François Fillon defended before the Court of Appeal the “irreplaceable” nature of the missions that his wife would have carried out in the Sarthe.
At the Paris Court of Appeal,
"It is Mr. François Fillon's turn to take the stand," announces the president of the Court of Appeal, François Reygrobellet.
Midnight blue suit, black mask, the former Prime Minister, now 67 years old, comes forward and puts notes on the desk in front of him.
The magistrate wants in particular to question him, this Monday, on "the contracts of parliamentary assistant signed with [his] wife", Penelope Fillon. Justice indeed wonders if she did the work for which she was paid. "The main role that I had entrusted to him is to be present on the ground", to "create this personal bond, this bond of trust" with the inhabitants, repeats the former presidential candidate. “It is a permanent job of networking the constituency which, exercised over a long period, is irreplaceable. "
The president of the court underlines that very few people knew that she was his parliamentary assistant and notes the "strong intangible tone" of this "collaboration".
François Fillon is also very annoyed when he has to give specific examples of tasks accomplished by his wife.
When he was in Paris, she replaced him at meals for elders, received residents, sorted mail, read newspapers… "Penelope had a knowledge of local situations which was very useful for me," he says.
She had thus informed him of the "rise of a bronca against a project that I had pushed".
This information had enabled him to settle the situation "during demonstrations in the communes".
"I had a chance to be elected"
According to the defendant, hiring his or her spouse was a common practice at the time current in the National Assembly, "also because the spouse embodies the presence of the parliamentarian in the field, which does not embody another collaborator". François Fillon simply concedes that they “could have done it differently”. The former elected adds that he had "taken the habit of having Penelope reread all [her] important speeches" from 1993 for "her to give her opinion". "How many times has she made me change a point of view that was too techno, too far removed from reality?" "
LR candidate in the 2017 presidential election, Fillon took advantage of his time at the helm to once again criticize an investigation which "should never have taken place" in this "context".
The "climate of heightened passion of a presidential campaign influences the testimonies", which are charged "with ulterior motives, whether positive or negative", he maintains.
“I had a chance to be elected [at the Elysee Palace], I took strong positions that may have struck, injured men and women.
"And to quote its positions on" the reduction of the standard of living of the State or of the public expenditure ".
"His role was becoming more and more essential"
This does not explain why the journalists who worked in the Sarthe at the time of the facts do not remember his wife as his collaborator.
"We do not move the AFP photographer for Madame Fillon who attends a meal for the elders," he insists.
“The demonstrations in the communes pass under the radars of the press.
At best, there is a local correspondent.
He sends a little text and a photo.
That's all.
"
Fixed by her husband, the remuneration of Pénélope Fillon was "within the limit of the maximum authorized amount", the president of the court of appeal pointed out to her.
The former Prime Minister emphasizes that he was in "what was authorized" by the National Assembly.
If she earned more and more money over the years, it was because “her role was becoming more and more essential”.
Follow the trial live on the Twitter account of our journalist @ tibochevillard
Justice
Fillon trial: "I sometimes felt humiliated ..." The Fillon couple contest their conviction
Justice
At his trial, François Fillon denounces "forty years of political commitment erased by a prosecution"
Justice
Trial
Fictitious employment
Fillon trial
The Republicans (LR)
Penelope fillon
Francois Fillon
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