The former head of the parquet national financier (PNF) Eliane Houlette was “late” on Friday that his comments made on 10 June during a hearing at the national Assembly on the “pressures” of his hierarchy in the investigation on the case of Fillon, who have caused a stir, have been ” distorted or misunderstood.”
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Eliane Houlette ” is that it is well understood that François Fillon has not been indicted at the request or under the pressure of the executive power “, according to a statement to the Agence France-Press forwarded by his lawyer Jean-Pierre Versini-Campinchi. “The recording of the hearing, available on the website of the national Assembly, shows that the pressures that she has mentioned do not relate to the allegations made against François Fillon nor on the merits of the proceedings brought against him. They were of a purely procedural nature “, she says.
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Heard on 10 June by the parliamentary commission of inquiry on the independence of the judiciary, Eliane Houlette was reaffirmed to have decided in January 2017, independently, to open an investigation into the spouses Fillon after suspicions of ‘ghost’ employees revealed by The Canard enchaîné.
The survey, released in full presidential campaign and at a time when François Hollande was president, had poisoned the candidacy of François Fillon at the Elysée palace and leads to the spring of 2020 at his trial in correctional alongside his wife Penelope. The judgement is expected on June 29.
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Sharp political reactions
During his hearing, Eliane Houlette was, however, moved by the “control very narrow” that would have exercised the attorney general’s office, his authority of direct supervision, in the conduct of investigations. These statements have since given rise to many accusations of” manipulation ” of justice in the camp of François Fillon (The Republicans), but also on the part of Marine Le Pen (national Gathering) or Jean-Luc Mélenchon (France insubordinate).
In its statement Friday, the one who led the PNF from February 2014 until his retirement at the end of June 2019 “hope that calms down controversy unnecessary” and ” wishes to confirm that the decision of the PNF to open it in the folder Fillon a judicial investigation entrusted to an investigating judge shall be the sole decision of this floor is linked to the evolution of the right prescription “. This decision does ” not have the pressure she would have suffered “, says she.
