PARIS President Francois Hollande defended France’s judicial system against allegations of bias made by conservative Francois Fillon whose presidential campaign has been undermined by a deepening investigation into a financial scandal.
“As guarantor of the independence of the judicial authorities, I want to speak out against any calling into question of the judges,” Hollande said in a statement.
“Being a presidential candidate doesn’t authorise you to cast suspicion on the work of police and judges … or to make extremely serious accusations against the justice system and our institutions more broadly,” he said.
(Reporting by Adrian Croft; Editing by Bate Felix)