François Fillon is back at the helm. The former Prime Minister, his wife, Penelope Fillon, and his former deputy, Marc Joulaud, are on appeal from Monday, November 15 in the case of suspicion of fictitious jobs. This second trial is held nearly a year and a half after the conviction at first instance of the former tenant of Matignon, who was sentenced to five years in prison, including two closed, in particular for “embezzlement of public funds”.
The Court of Appeal will examine until November 30 this case synonymous with spectacular political shipwreck for François Fillon during the presidential campaign of 2017. Franceinfo takes stock of what you need to know before the trial opens at 1:30 p.m. at the Paris courthouse.
1What are the different aspects of this case?
François Fillon will again have to explain his wife’s employment as parliamentary assistant between 1998 and 2013, within the framework of three contracts signed by him and by his deputy at the time in Sarthe, Marc Joulaud. Services which had been remunerated 613,000 euros net (more than one million euros gross).
The couple are also on trial for the employment of their two eldest children, Marie and Charles, as parliamentary assistants to their father – then senator – between 2005 and 2007, as well as for the contract of Penelope Fillon as “literary advisor” in 2012 and 2013 at the Review of two worlds, owned by Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière, a friend of François Fillon. Finally, the former Prime Minister is being prosecuted for having failed to declare to the High Authority for the Transparency of Public Life (HATVP) a loan of 50,000 euros granted by Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière.
2What sentences were handed down during the first trial?
At first instance, the three defendants were found guilty, in particular of “embezzlement of public funds”. François Fillon was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, two of which were closed, and ten years of ineligibility. The former prime minister was also fined 375 000 euros fine.
Penelope Fillon was sentenced to three years in prison, two years of ineligibility, and a fine of 375,000 euros. Marc Joulaud has meanwhile been given a three-year suspended prison sentence, five years of ineligibility and a 20,000 euro suspended fine. The three defendants immediately appealed against this judgment.
For the court, the contracts of parliamentary assistant of Penelope Fillon with her husband, then of Marc Joulaud, had not “no consistency” and did not respond to “no need”. They have, in addition, been found guilty of “complicity” and “concealment of misuse of corporate assets”, for the“hiring of convenience” by Penelope Fillon at the Review of two worlds. François Fillon, on the other hand, was released on the part of the undeclared loan to the HATVP.
3What are the challenges of this appeal for the Fillon couple?
What is at stake in this appeal trial is that “innocence” by François Fillon “and that of his wife are finally recognized”, summed up to AFP the lawyer for the former Prime Minister, Antonin Lévy. The defense of the couple, who had pleaded for acquittal in the first instance, has always disputed the facts. “Assistance” by Penelope Fillon “corresponded exactly to what Marc Joulaud needed to best exercise the mandate of deputy of François Fillon, while the latter exercised in Paris the responsibilities of minister”, for his part assured Marc Joulaud’s lawyer, Jean Veil.
The defense, which has criticized since the origin of this case a “crazy investigation” and “dependent”, also counts during this second trial “discuss” from statements by the former head of the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF), Eliane Houlette, in June 2020, a few days before the decision of the criminal court. The magistrate then spoke in parliamentary committee of “pressures” hierarchical in this case, which had revived in the Fillon camp the accusations of instrumentalization of justice. In September 2020, however, the Superior Council of the Judiciary concluded that justice worked “independently” in that case.
4What happened to the former prime minister?
Now 67 years old and retired, François Fillon retired from political life after his failure in the last presidential election. Since 2019, the Sarthois has been at the head of the association Agir pour la paix avec les Christians d’Orient, of which he chaired the general assembly at the end of September.
François Fillon was also converted into businessmen. In 2017, he joined Tikehau Capital. The former prime minister withdrew from this investment fund in July 2020, a few weeks after his conviction, reports Ouest-France (subscribers article). Last June, he was appointed to the board of directors of a Russian state-owned oil company, Zaroubejneft. His application to this group specializing in the development and exploitation of hydrocarbon deposits had been proposed by the Russian Prime Minister, Mikhail Michoustine.