French politician Francois Fillon attends the third prime-time televised debate for the French center-right presidential primary in Paris, France, November 17, 2016 (REUTERS / Christphe Archambault)
Paris: Lawyers for French presidential candidate Francois Fillon on Thursday called on prosecutors to drop their probe into payments received by his wife for a suspected fake job, calling it "illegal".
The probe into the payments from parliamentary funds deals a "serious blow to the principle of the separation of powers", lawyer Antonin Levy said, adding that the financial prosecutor's office was "not competent" to investigate the matter.
