PARIS (Reuters) – The mayor of Pau and president of MoDem, François Bayrou, was acquitted on Monday while on trial before the Paris criminal court for complicity by instigation in embezzlement of public funds.
The case concerns the remuneration of parliamentary assistants of MoDem MEPs with funds from the European Parliament while these assistants worked for the benefit of the centrist party.
In its ruling, the court considered that “no element taken from the file allows us to assert with a reasonable degree of certainty that François Bayrou had knowledge” of the alleged facts. The court thus requested the acquittal “for the benefit of the doubt”.
The prosecution had requested 30 months of suspended imprisonment, a fine of 70,000 euros and three years of suspended ineligibility for François Bayrou.
“What satisfies me is that proof has been provided that no, there was no desire, in any way, to misappropriate funds from the European Parliament,” François Bayrou reacted to the press at the exit of the court.
“The court, in its judgment, made a point of saying that there was no system, no personal enrichment, no responsibility on my part,” he added.
The revelation of the affair, in the spring of 2017, caused the resignation of François Bayrou from his post as Minister of Justice, just one month after his appointment.
In this case, eleven individuals were referred to the Paris Criminal Court.
The treasurer of MoDem and former Minister of Justice Michel Mercier was, for his part, sentenced to 18 months in prison, a fine of 20,000 euros and two years of suspended ineligibility.
Five former MEPs, including Anne Laperrouze and Jean-Luc Bennahmias, were also found guilty.
Marine Le Pen, also suspected of having employed European parliamentary assistants for missions for the benefit of the National Rally (RN), welcomed the decision of the Paris criminal court.
“I am very happy, even if he is a political adversary, that justice has been done,” she declared to the TF1 Television News.
Marine Le Pen, the president of the RN group in the National Assembly and 28 other people were referred to the criminal court for embezzlement of public funds.
The acquittal of François Bayrou clears his political horizon while the Elysée must soon unveil the list of delegated ministers and secretaries of state of Gabriel Attal’s government.
“After an ordeal of this magnitude, of this dimension, of this length of time, it is not the most important policy,” declared the boss of MoDem on Monday when asked about his future and a possible return to government.
(Written by Blandine Hénault, edited by Sophie Louet and Kate Entringer)
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