Overview
- The European Court of Human Rights unanimously declared Fillon’s application inadmissible and said the proceedings, taken as a whole, were fair.
- Fillon, his wife Penelope, and former deputy Marc Joulaud alleged they lacked an independent and impartial tribunal due to pressure from the prosecutor and reporting requirements within the parquet.
- Judges also rejected his Article 7 argument that the public-funds offense does not apply to parliamentarians, noting he had not raised that point before French courts.
- His definitive June 2025 sentence stands at four years’ prison suspended, a €375,000 fine, and five years of ineligibility, a reduction from a 2022 ruling that included one year firm and ten years’ ineligibility.
- The case stems from the 2017 “Penelopegate” scandal that derailed his presidential campaign, after which he publicly criticized the Strasbourg court and even proposed that France leave it.