Key facts
- Former French Prime Minister François Fillon has been suspended for 10 years from the Légion d’honneur.
- The suspension was approved by President Emmanuel Macron following a recommendation from the disciplinary body.
- Fillon was convicted of providing his wife, Penelope, with a fake job using taxpayer funds.
- The fake jobs scandal emerged during the 2017 presidential election campaign, ending Fillon's bid for the presidency.
- Fillon received a four-year suspended prison sentence and a €375,000 fine, which he did not appeal to a higher court.
Former French Prime Minister François Fillon has been suspended for 10 years from the Légion d’honneur, France's highest order of merit, due to a conviction for providing his wife with a fake job. The decision was published in the French official gazette and approved by President Emmanuel Macron.
The fake jobs scandal, which emerged during the 2017 presidential election campaign, derailed Fillon's presidential bid. He and his wife, Penelope, were unable to provide evidence that she had actually performed work as his parliamentary assistant under several contracts. Fillon was found guilty in 2020, and an appeals court upheld the verdict last year, imposing a four-year suspended prison sentence and a €375,000 fine. Fillon chose not to appeal this decision further.
In a related development, former President Nicolas Sarkozy was also stripped of his Légion d’honneur last year following his conviction for corruption.