Former Prime Minister François Fillon is to be questioned Monday, November 22 in the afternoon at his appeal trial in Paris for suspicion of fictitious jobs for his wife Penelope Fillon, a case in which he tries to reshuffle the cards after a conviction at first instance.
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The former right-wing presidential candidate in 2017, whose campaign was marked by the explosion of the "Penelopegate", must succeed at the bar from 1:30 pm to his wife, who maintained Tuesday and Wednesday have did a real job with her husband. Now retired, the former head of government, 67, has not yet spoken in length since the start of the appeal trial on November 15. On the second day of the hearing, he nevertheless made an
"opening statement"
, to sum up the
"truth
(which he had)
failed to convey to the court". "My wife worked alongside me, it is indisputable"
, he assured, denouncing, as from the beginning of the case, a
"dependent investigation"
.
"Literary advisor"
The judgment of first instance betrays a
“conception”
relating to
“archaism”
of the role of his wife, argued François Fillon, denying having been a
“fictitious deputy mainly concerned with money, as one
(l)
'has depicted "
.
The former deputy for Sarthe and Paris also expressed
“regrets”
, in particular for
“
(his)
country, deprived in 2017 of the democratic debate to which he was entitled”
, for his
“political family left permanently weakened”
from this affair and
“above all”
for his wife,
“marked for life”
.
He is retried until November 30 alongside his wife and his former deputy for suspicion of
“fictitious or overvalued”
jobs
for Penelope Fillon as parliamentary assistant between 1998 and 2013, paid a total of 612,000 euros net. The Fillon couple must also explain the hiring of two of their children as collaborators of their father senator between 2005 and 2007, as well as the contract of Penelope Fillon as
"literary advisor"
, in 2012 and 2013, in the Revue des deux mondes. François Fillon is finally being prosecuted for having failed to declare a loan of 50,000 euros in 2012 to the High Authority for the Transparency of Public Life (HATVP).
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The former tenant of Matignon immediately appealed against his conviction in this case, on June 29, 2020, to five years' imprisonment, two of which were firm and a fine of 375,000 euros, as did Penelope Fillon, who had been inflicted three years of suspended prison sentence and a fine of 375,000 euros, as well as Marc Joulaud, sanctioned up to three years suspended and 20,000 euros suspended fine.
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