French ex-PM gets 5 year sentence in fraud trial

PARIS: A Paris court on Monday sentenced former French prime minister Francois Fillon to five years in prison, with three suspended, after finding him guilty of orchestrating a fake job for his wife, a scandal that cost him his shot at the presidency in 2017.

GUILTY Former French prime minister Francois Fillon (right) and his wife Penelope Fillon (2nd from right) leave the Paris’ courthouse on June 29, 2020 after a ruling on a trial for embezzlement in the context of an alleged job fraud. AFP PHOTO