“Regrets” yes, but no mea culpa.
On the second day of his appeal trial in the case of suspicion of his wife's fictitious employment, François Fillon maintained that his wife Penelope Fillon had "worked alongside (his) sides", criticizing a "dependent investigation".
The former deputy for Sarthe, 67, made a point of making an opening statement, before the court examines the merits in this case of suspicion of fictitious jobs of Penelope Fillon. “When I was elected to the National Assembly in 1981, more than half of the deputies employed a spouse or a member of their family as parliamentary collaborator,” he declared. “My wife assisted me in my political engagement. She was paid for her work as hundreds of other spouses were paid for strictly similar work, ”insisted François Fillon.
Elected “eight times” to the National Assembly, “I was not a fictitious deputy mainly concerned with money”.
"This is what hurts me the most in the trial that is done to me today," he added.
He then deplored “40 years of (political) commitment erased by an article in a satirical newspaper and a dependent investigation freeing itself from all the necessary precautions when it comes to democracy”.
“My wife worked alongside me, there is no doubt about it,” he said.
"I especially regret for my wife"
The former Prime Minister finally expressed "regret", not for what he would have done, but for "(his) country which was deprived in 2017 of the democratic debate to which it was entitled", for his "political family weakened exit ”from this affair and“ for his children, his family, who suffered from the trial investigated by the media ”.
“But I especially regret for my wife, because she was marked for life in this case.
His name has been thrown as food for public opinion, by media without ethics, "said the former Prime Minister, before concluding:" Whatever your decision, nothing can ever erase the violence of what she suffered with exemplary dignity ”.
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He already saw himself President of the Republic: François Fillon, route of a fall (part 1)
François Fillon appealed against his conviction in June 2020 to five years' imprisonment, two of which were firm, a fine of 375,000 euros and 10 years of ineligibility, in particular for embezzlement of public funds.
He is retried until November 30 for suspicion of fictitious jobs concerning the employment of his wife as parliamentary assistant between 1998 and 2013, by him and the one who was then his deputy, Marc Joulaud.
The couple is also being sued for the employment of two of their children as parliamentary assistants to their father between 2005 and 2007 as well as for the contract of Penelope Fillon as “literary advisor”, in 2012 and 2013, at the Revue des two worlds, owned by billionaire Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière.