Mᵉ François Wagner made an effort to remain technically sober, and he still lasted an hour and a half on Monday, November 18, before saying what was on his mind. The historic lawyer of the National Front (FN, now National Rally, RN) initially considered it expeditious to plead “a file of great legal complexity”that of the party's assistants in the European Parliament, using unprecedented means “frequently asked questions” – he found thirty – peeled one by one, before coming to the point: the party is being put on political trial.
“This issue has been political from the start”assured the lawyer, with the report in 2015 from Martin Schulz, then social democratic president of the European Parliament. Moreover, the Brussels investigators did not consider it necessary to pursue the Spanish socialists of Podemos, and Martin Schulz himself never got into trouble, although “his assistants complained about having to iron his pants”, according to the lawyer, and that one of them would have at the same time been “manager of a travel agency” – in reality, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), after investigation, considered that it could only benefit from a dismissal of the case.
But Mᵉ Wagner observes that in 2014, François Hollande was in the pre-campaign, and that he had already planned to embarrass his “potential adversary” : moreover, Martin Schulz met the French minister at the time, Christiane Taubira, “there are photos, it’s in the file”et “between socialist comrades, we cannot refuse each other anything”. Confirmation “the political nature of the case came with the requisitions for provisional execution. When politics enters the courtroom, justice leaves, the lawyer theatrically proclaimed. Chase away this bad wind that the prosecution has caused to blow over this hearing. »
Mᵉ Wagner defends Micheline Bruna, the faithful secretary, promoted to parliamentary assistant of Jean-Marie Le Pen, against whom eighteen months of suspended prison time, a 20,000 euro fine and two years of ineligibility, and three former MEPs, Dominique Bilde, Mylène Troszczynski and Marie-Christine Arnautu, against whom the public prosecutor is requesting sentences of eighteen months including one year suspended, and fines of 30,000 to 50,000 euros accompanied by ineligibility for three years.
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“Unclear” regulations
On the merits, the lawyer assured that the successive regulations of Parliament had evolved considerably, and “were not crystal clear”in the words of the Director General of OLAF; that it was possible to share, between deputies, the same assistant on condition of declaring it. “Certainly, the written declaration is missing, I grant you that”agreed Mᵉ Wagner, and finally if a collaborator is prohibited from working for a European party, “an assistant is not prohibited from having links to or being employed by a national political party” before 2015, before it was duly included in the texts. Consequently, he requests the release of his four clients. The other lawyers too.
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