the trial is over, the judgment will be rendered on February 5

The former Minister of Justice will have to wait several weeks. On Tuesday, November 21, the Paris court postponed its judgment until February 5, the last day of the trial of François Bayrou and ten centrist executives and elected officials in the case of the European parliamentary assistants of the UDF and the MoDem.

The lawyers of the three-time presidential candidate, 72, tried for complicity in embezzlement of public funds, lastly pleaded for acquittal, as did the party counsel.

Fines and suspended sentences required

The mayor of Pau is suspected of having been the “decision maker” of “fraudulent system” which consisted, between 2005 and 2017, of using European funds to pay parliamentary assistants who in reality worked for centrist organizations in France.

The lawyers denounced “the total absence of demonstration” of the prosecution, who requested on November 14 a 30-month suspended prison sentence, a 70,000 euro fine and three years of suspended ineligibility against François Bayrou.

Against the other defendants, the prosecution requested sentences ranging from 8 to 20 months in prison and a fine of 10,000 to 30,000 euros, with sentences of ineligibility also suspended. Fines of 300,000 euros including 100,000 firm, and 500,000 euros including 200,000 firm, were requested for the UDF and the Modem respectively.