Former LR presidential candidate François Fillon has filed an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), after being found guilty by the Court of Cassation of embezzlement of public funds.
New episode in the Fillon series. Former Republican candidate for the 2017 presidential election François Fillon filed an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on August 23, reveals The World Friday August 30.
This appeal comes a few months after the decision of the Court of Cassation in the case of the fictitious jobs of his wife Penelope Fillon. The Court found the former Prime Minister of Nicolas Sarkozy (2007-2012) guilty in particular of embezzlement of public funds on April 24. At the same time, however, it had ordered a new trial, but only concerning the sentences handed down to François Fillon and the damages he had been ordered to pay. Insufficient therefore for the former head of government.
In addition to François Fillon, his wife Penelope Fillon, as well as his former substitute in the National Assembly Marc Joulaud (2002-2007) also seized the ECHR. The former had been sentenced to 2 years in prison suspended, 375,000 euros fine and 2 years of ineligibility and the latter to 3 years in prison suspended and 5 years of ineligibility.
A trial denounced as biased
“The ultimate goal we are pursuing is the cancellation of the criminal and civil convictions for our three clients,” the lawyer for the Fillon couple and Marc Joulaud, François-Henri Briard, assured Le Monde.
All remedies exhausted in France
Last April, the Court of Cassation definitively pronounced François Fillon guilty in the affair dubbed “Penelopegate”. The latter broke out in 2017 after revelations by the Canard enchaîné in the middle of the presidential campaign.
In this case, François Fillon was convicted first at first instance, then on appeal and finally by the Court of Cassation, before requesting yet another appeal, this time at the European level, namely the ECHR. The referral to the ECHR means that a new hearing will take place, although the date is not yet known.
“In France, domestic remedies have been exhausted on this issue. Our three clients are seeking a condemnation of France by the European jurisdiction,” explains Me François-Henri Briard.
The Fillon couple and Marc Jouland believe, according to their lawyer, that they did not benefit from a biased trial. They denounce “failures that were committed to the principles of independence and impartiality in the judicial hierarchy and the conduct of the trial”, pointing the finger in particular at Éliane Houlette, head of the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office at the time.
