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| Francois Fillon decries 'political assassination' as he faces court summons over 'fake work' scandal | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Francois Fillon has refused to step down from the French Presidential election race in the face of mounting pressure over a “fake work” scandal involving his wife. | Francois Fillon has refused to step down from the French Presidential election race in the face of mounting pressure over a “fake work” scandal involving his wife. |
| The 62-year-old former Prime Minister abruptly cancelled a high profile appearance on Wednesday, just hours before giving a speech at his campaign headquarters. | The 62-year-old former Prime Minister abruptly cancelled a high profile appearance on Wednesday, just hours before giving a speech at his campaign headquarters. |
| He confirmed he had been summoned for questioning over “Penelopegate” on 15 March, claiming that the investigation process had been unfair and amounted to a “political assassination”. | He confirmed he had been summoned for questioning over “Penelopegate” on 15 March, claiming that the investigation process had been unfair and amounted to a “political assassination”. |
| “I will answer the summons, I will respect the judges…although what we have seen is not natural,” Mr Fillon said. | “I will answer the summons, I will respect the judges…although what we have seen is not natural,” Mr Fillon said. |
| “I will not cede, I will not give up, I will not withdraw, I will continue to the end because it is democracy that is under attack.” | “I will not cede, I will not give up, I will not withdraw, I will continue to the end because it is democracy that is under attack.” |
| In a bullish speech, he said he would leave the decision on his candidacy to “the French people”. | In a bullish speech, he said he would leave the decision on his candidacy to “the French people”. |
| His defiant statement came after hours of mounting speculation Mr Fillon would finally cave into pressure from within his own party to step down. | |
| The politician has already gone back on his own pledge to remove himself from the presidential race in the event of a formal probe. | |
| He was considered a frontrunner until the “Penelopegate” scandal broke in January, with the former Prime Minister sliding down the polls with the launch of a judicial investigation. | |
| The centre-right candidate is accused of paying his wife and two of his children large sums for work they did not carry out. | |
| Mr Fillon has denied wrongdoing, saying his wife was paid hundreds of thousands of euros for genuine work as his parliamentary assistant, though he has acknowledged giving her the work was an error of judgement. | |
| The French election has been dogged by scandals and inquiries, with leading independent candidate Emmanuel Macron forced to deny rumours of a gay extramarital affair and a separate investigation underway into spending by Marine Le Pen. | |
| The Front National leader has refused to be questioned over allegations she illegally used EU funds to pay parliamentary funds until after the election. | |
| Opinion polls currently put Mr Fillon lagging in third place for the first round of the French vote, behind Ms Le Pen and centre-left Mr Macron. | |
| The two front-runners are just a handful of percentage points apart in polls, with most putting Ms Le Pen narrowly ahead in the first round but predicting a heavy defeat to Mr Macron in the second and decisive vote. |