François Fillon to continue with presidential campaign after court summons
France’s François Fillon said that he will continue with his presidential campaign and confirmed that he has been summoned by magistrates over an investigation of public money paid to his wife for a fictitious job.
He cancelled an appearance at a Paris farm fair, le Salon de l'Agriculture, on Wednesday, which is seen as a key visit in the campaign to woo French rural voters, amid reports that he was summoned and that his wife Penelope Fillon was in custody.
The former Bordeaux mayor will appear in front of magistrates on 15 March, two days before candidates have to formally submit their candidacy on 17 March and by just over five weeks before polls open for the first round of voting on 23 April.
At a press conference, Fillon called the investigation a “political assassination”.
He said: “I will not give in. I will not give up. I am not prepared to withdraw, I will go to the very end.
“Justice will be done. I will tell the judges my truth, which is the truth. Today it is up to you my dear countrymen…It is up to the French people to whom I will appeal.
“I have not been treated like an ordinary citizen. I have not embezzled public funds. I entrusted some parliamentary work to my relatives because I knew I could rely on their loyalty and they did work for me and I will prove it. I have not been treated like an ordinary citizen.
“The rule of law has been systematically violated. All my arguments have not been reported properly. The presumption of innocence has been entirely ignored and has disappeared.”
Investigators are probing claims that Penelope Fillon was paid €830,000 in public funds for work as a parliamentary assistant between 1998 and 2013 that she did not do.
The former prime minister was previously seen as the favourite to win the election but in recent polls he has slid into third place behind centrist independent Emmanuel Macron and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen for the first round.