Sablé-sur-Sarthe, December 15, 2019. François Fillon and his wife Penelope are accused of “embezzlement of public funds” and “of misuse of social property”. – JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER / AFP
It will not have lasted more than ten minutes. Barely time for François and Penelope Fillon to declare their identity at the helm of the 32nd chamber of the Paris judicial court.
The trial of the former Prime Minister, his wife Penelope and his former deputy Marc Joulaud, was postponed until Wednesday at the request of defense lawyers who wanted to show their support for the lawyers’ strike movement.
“I will not have a great political moment in a court that has already had enough, explained in a malicious formula Antonin Lévy, the lawyer of François Fillon. We wish to express our sympathy towards our striking colleagues ”, pointing to the access of litigants to the law. A few hours earlier,
many black dresses blocked access to the same court to protest the reform project of the government which plans to attach lawyers to the universal pension scheme, when they now have an autonomous beneficiary scheme.
#Fillon #Avocats : In training “scrum of rugby”, the police push … pic.twitter.com/J74iy0k8qF
– Vincent Vantighem (@vvantighem) February 24, 2020
François Fillon’s “pen” called to testify
Dark suit on white shirt, François Fillon did not speak during this short audience, except to give his date of birth. Alongside his wife Penelope, he appeared tense, wringing his hands while waiting for the hearing to start.
Accused of having salaried and remunerated his wife as a parliamentary collaborator when he was a deputy when she was not really exercising any functions he faces a sentence of ten years in prison and heavy fines for “embezzlement of public funds”. Civil party in this case,
the National Assembly also intends to claim 1,081,219.51 euros in damages , or the amount of wages paid to Penelope Fillon between 1998 and 2013 to which are added employer charges.
#Fillon : Precision. The amounts are claimed jointly and severally from Penelope Fillon and François Fillon on the one hand and from Penelope Fillon and Marc Joulaud on the other. So, in total, hard to say that Joulaud will be asked for more than the Fillon …https://t.co/UKhVyvhPUs
– Vincent Vantighem (@vvantighem) February 19, 2020
In their defense, François and Penelope Fillon have already announced their intention to call three witnesses : Sylvie Fourmont, the historic secretary of the politician, Pierre Molager, another of his former collaborators, and Igor Mitrofanoff, his former “pen”, who was responsible for writing his speeches. The trial is scheduled to last until March 11.
Follow this trial live on our journalists’ Twitter account: @helenesergent and
@vvantighem
