The appeal in cassation formed by Jacques Bompard, the mayor of Orange in the Vaucluse was rejected this Wednesday by the Court of Cassation. The city councilor, founder of the Southern League party, was sentenced to one year in prison, five years of ineligibility and a fine of 30,000 euros on March 25 by the Nîmes court of appeal for taking illegal interest.
“The Court of Cassation notes that there is, in this case, no means likely to allow the admission of the appeal” and therefore declares it “not admitted”, according to the decision rendered by the court on November 17.
A case brought before the ECHR
“I can only be surprised at such a decision which only confirms the arbitrariness that I have suffered since the start of this procedure which began in 2009”, reacted Jacques Bompard in a press release. He announced that he was taking the case to the European Court of Human Rights. “I can only note the political motivation of such a court decision which endorses the disproportionate judgment pronounced on appeal. “
In May 2019, the mayor of Orange was sentenced by the Carpentras criminal court to a six-month suspended prison sentence. He was also fined 50,000 euros, half of which was suspended. He had, however, escaped the ineligibility penalty required by the prosecution.