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François Fillon's trial: behind the scenes of his return to France 2

2020-01-28T18:55:05.343Z


The former Prime Minister, who will speak in "You have the floor" on France 2 this Thursday before his trial for the Penelopegate, wants to di


“The obstacles placed in my way were too numerous, too cruel. When the time comes, the truth of this election will be written. It is with these words that François Fillon left French political life, on the evening of the first round of the presidential election in 2017. Since then, the former Prime Minister has remained silent. Some exceptions certainly, in the form of tweets, when he intervened last October in Switzerland as a member of the International Automobile Federation (FIA), when he defends the Christians of the East or when he replies, rage, to Nicolas Sarkozy's book: "Nicolas Sarkozy's unique passion is Nicolas Sarkozy. "

But for François Fillon, the time has come to speak his "truth". He has little choice. From February 24 to March 11, he will appear with his wife Penelope before the Paris Criminal Court for “embezzlement of public funds” over several periods between 1998 and 2013, “complicity and concealment” of this offense as well as for “complicity and concealment of 'misuse of corporate assets ".

VIDEO. Penelopegate: chronology of a case

A test that the former Prime Minister, who became a partner in the asset management company Tikehau Capital, decided to anticipate by being Thursday evening the guest of "You have the floor" on France 2. For an hour and a quarter, the big burned out politician will be under the fire of questions from Léa Salamé and Thomas Sotto. No debater or report will sequence the program. "It is the most suitable format to push it to its limits," explains the editor-in-chief Alix Bouilhaguet.

According to the editorial staff, the former candidate had no requirements regarding the themes addressed. He will obviously come back to the Penelopegate and the progress of the presidential campaign but will also be asked about current events: Macron governance, pensions, international issues and, in particular, Brexit…

Not a return to politics

"He is a wise observer, he still has a CV," pleads Alix Bouilhaguet. But all the actors concerned are unanimous: this is in no way an attempt to return to politics. So why speak out before your trial? Behind the scenes of the negotiation of the issue provide an answer. Since last October, France 2 has been in discussions to obtain this exclusivity. "Did he have to speak?" In his entourage, they were divided. But it was really Fillon who wanted to express himself. Around December 15, it was he who opted for France 2. He refused Sept à quatre on TF1, he wanted a live interview for a moment of truth, ”said a source at the forefront of the discussions.

“Its driving force is pride and panache. He knows that he has forty years of political life: he was the youngest member of France, he was Prime Minister for five years, he made 7 million votes despite four months of business. He does not want the French to retain only the costumes offered by Robert Bourgi! "Continues the same source. A desire to justify himself that the Swiss journalist Darius Rochebin, who interviewed him in October during a Salon in Geneva, also felt. “I had the feeling that he wanted to come back to the media one day. The desire to express himself on what he feels is an injustice was present, ”says the star of the small Swiss screen.

"Saying inaudible things during the trial"

"The campaign was atrophied by business, he could not say everything he wanted," said Tugdual Denis, deputy director of Valeurs Actuelles, who has met him multiple times since last March for a book portrait to be published in April. "He wants to say a number of things that will be inaudible during the trial," adds a friend. In all likelihood, the ex-candidate should denounce the judicial treatment, of exception according to him, which he was subjected to. He will be able to draw on the book by Gérard Davet and Fabrice Lhomme, Apocalypse Now (Fayard), who, although against him, concludes that "the judiciary has shown a zeal never seen before" in the treatment of Penelopegate.

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"The book comforted and horrified me about how justice works in my country," asserts Me Antonin Lévy. The former Prime Minister's lawyer acknowledges that this argument will have "no legal consequences" in court. "But was François Fillon only tried in court? He has been condemned by public opinion, so it is normal for him to defend himself before the court which tried him ... ”

Source: leparis

All news articles on 2020-01-28

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