On the first day of the Fillon couple's appeal trial on suspicion of fictitious jobs: "This time, I would like to convince you"<

François Fillon back at the helm: the appeal trial of the former Prime Minister, his wife and his ex-deputy opened Monday, November 15 at the start of the afternoon in Paris in the case of the suspicions of fictitious jobs of Penelope Fillon who sealed the race for the Elysee Palace of her husband in 2017.

Night blue suit, salt and pepper hair, the one who was the head of government between 2007 and 2012, now 67 years old, entered the courtroom without speaking to the press with his female, 66 years old. This second trial is being held nearly a year and a half after the conviction of the former tenant of Matignon, in particular for embezzlement of public funds, to five years in prison, two of which are closed, a fine of 375,000 euros and ten years in prison. ineligibility. He immediately called.

During the first trial, "I felt ridiculed, even sometimes humiliated, I was paralyzed to the point of not not be able to express myself as I would have liked”, declared Penelope Fillon, complaining of a “prejudice” against her. “This time, I would like to convince you,” she added. Until November 30, the Franco-Welshwoman intends to defend the release, when she had been sentenced at first instance to three years' suspended imprisonment and a fine of 375,000 euros.

"Not the same judicial treatment as any other litigant"

The first day of the hearing was devoted to procedural issues. "François Fillon did not receive the same legal treatment as any other litigant", estimated his lawyer, Antonin Lévy, asking for the first time the cancellation of the essential of the file where there was according to him "something rotten ". Mr. Lévy invoked the statements, in June 2020, of the former head of the National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF), Eliane Houlette, who had been moved in the parliamentary committee by "pressure" from his hierarchy in this affair, a few days before the rendering of the judgment of the first trial – the defense had then requested, in vain, the postponement of the decision.

For the lawyer, the "nine" reports of information between the PNF and the general prosecutor's office were not made in compliance with the law and they explain the "widespread leaks" in the press. Mr. Lévy also accused the president of the Paris court of a "litany of lies", "errors and approximations" in his explanations on the appointment of the investigating magistrate. According to him, the latter was chosen "on purpose" for the purpose of indicting Mr. Fillon in the middle of the presidential campaign.

The opening of this investigation was initially welcomed by Mr. Fillon, before he was indicted in March 2017, a few days before the closing of applications. “We are in the process of intention”, replied the Advocate General, Bruno Revel, who recalled that the Superior Council of the Judiciary, seized by Emmanuel Macron, had concluded at the end of 2020 that justice had acted “ independently ". He thus considered that the defense request was inadmissible and that, on the merits, “the rules of a fair trial [had] been respected”.

A succession of revelations

Le Canard enchaîné unveiled the “Penelopegate” on January 24, 2017, leading to the opening of an investigation. The revelations had followed one another and the right-wing candidate, champion of integrity and favorite in the polls, had been put to the test six weeks before the first round.

Now 67 years old and retired, François Fillon will have to explain his wife's employment as a parliamentary assistant between 1998 and 2013, within the framework of three contracts signed by him and by the person who was then his substitute in the Sarthe, Marc Joulaud. The latter had been given, at first instance, a three-year suspended prison sentence, a suspended fine of 20,000 euros and five years of ineligibility.

Services paid 613,000 euros net (more than a million euros gross) "fictitious or overvalued" according to the prosecution, who considers that the activities of Penelope Fillon fell within the "social role" of a "spouse of a politician", but not of a collaborator. Penelope Fillon's work was certainly "discreet", mostly oral, but "essential", her husband always claimed.

The couple is also on trial for the employment of their two children as parliamentary assistants to their senator father between 2005 and 2007 (100,000 euros gross) as well as for Penelope Fillon's lucrative contract as "literary adviser" in 2012 and 2013 at the Revue des deux mondes, owned by Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière – 135,000 euros gross.

Friend of François Fillon, this businessman recognized, in a separate procedure, a partly fictitious job and he was sentenced in 2018 for misuse of corporate assets.

François Fillon is finally being prosecuted for having failed to declare a loan from Mr. Ladreit de Lacharrière in the amount of 50,000 euros to the High Authority for the transparency of public life – he was acquitted at first instance.

The issue of the appeal trial: the “innocence” of the Fillon couple

The challenge of this appeal trial is that the "innocence" of François Fillon "and that of his wife are finally recognized", had summarized with Agence France-Presse (AFP), Mr. Lévy before the start of the trial.

“The assistance” of the 66-year-old Franco-Welshwoman “corresponded exactly to what Marc Joulaud needed to best exercise the mandate of deputy to François Fillon, while the latter exercised the responsibilities of minister in Paris “, assured AFP Mr. Joulaud’s lawyer, Jean Veil. The National Assembly, a civil party, had obtained more than one million euros in damages.

In September 2021, the press revealed that a second investigation targeting François Fillon had been opened in 2017, concerning the employment conditions of another parliamentary assistant, the writer Maël Renouard, between 2013 and 2015. This investigation is still ongoing.