Trial of MoDem MEP assistants: decision expected on December 17
François Bayrou, acquitted at first instance, awaits the verdict of the Paris Court of Appeal after the prosecution's requisitions.
Quick Look
- The Paris Court of Appeal will deliver its verdict on December 17 in the case of the MoDem parliamentary assistants.
- François Bayrou, acquitted at first instance, faces orders for a two-year suspended prison sentence.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
François Bayrou and several MoDem executives are accused of having used European Parliament funds to pay assistants working for the party between 2005 and 2017.
The Paris Court of Appeal will deliver its decision on December 17 in the case of assistants to MoDem MEPs, in which François Bayrou had been acquitted at first instance but against whom the prosecution had requested two years of suspended imprisonment on Monday. “If we have not found proof, it is because there is no system, no offense,” the former prime minister declared Friday afternoon in a final speech at the conclusion of a trial which opened on September 9.
The centrist leader as well as around ten executives from the MoDem and its ancestor the UDF are suspected of having, between 2005 and 2017, had their MEPs hire assistants - paid by the European Parliament - but who only worked for the sole benefit of the party. In addition to the prison sentence, the two representatives of the prosecution had demanded against François Bayrou a fine of 50,000 euros and three years of suspended ineligibility.
'You won't find any proof'
During their nearly five-hour indictment on Monday, the attorneys general had certainly warned the court that “you will not find traces” of orders given by François Bayrou, “but there are a series of clues”. “You won’t find any traces? I say, you will not find proof,” quipped Friday morning one of the defenders of the boss of the MoDem, Me Pierre Cornut-Gentille. “As long as it is not proven that it was at the instigation of François Bayrou, you cannot find him guilty,” like the first instance judges who recognized his innocence two years ago, he insisted.
“The emptiness of your requisitions raises only one question: the absence of tangible evidence,” another defense lawyer, Mr. Mario Stasi, pressed on Friday morning, asking: “the absence of evidence, is it not simply proof of the absence of an offense?” The prosecution had also requested confirmation of the conviction of the MoDem and the UDF, prosecuted as a legal entity, to a fine of 100,000 euros each.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Verdict rendered by the Paris Court of Appeal.
Very likely · Within weeks
Open Questions
- What will be the final decision of the court of appeal on December 17?
