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		</div><p>French conservative candidate Francois Fillon has refused to quit the presidential race despite receiving a summons to face charges of faking parliamentary jobs for his family, including his British wife.<br />
Calling the investigation a &#8220;political assassination&#8221;, Mr Fillon called on his supporters to &#8220;resist&#8221; and said he would leave it up to voters to decide his fate.</p>
<p>Once a front-runner in the race for the April-May two-round election, Mr Fillon&#8217;s chances have slipped since the probe was opened in January.</p>
<p>Mr Fillon abruptly cancelled a campaign stop on Wednesday after receiving the legal summons, prompting media speculation that he would quit the race.</p>
<p>&#8220;I will not surrender,&#8221; he told reporters at his headquarters later. &#8220;I will not withdraw.&#8221;<br />
Mr Fillon denied all allegations and said legal procedure was not properly followed in the probe, which he called unprecedented and unacceptable during a presidential election campaign.</p>
<p>He said he was summoned for questioning on March 15 &#8220;with the goal of being given preliminary charges&#8221;.<br />
The court summons was widely expected after the financial prosecutor&#8217;s office pushed the case to a higher level on Friday, opening a formal judicial inquiry that allows investigating judges to file preliminary charges.</p>
<p>Financial prosecutor Eliane Houlette denied reports that Mr Fillon&#8217;s wife Penelope, from Abergavenny in Wales, was taken in for questioning on Wednesday.</p>
<p>Mr Fillon, who won the conservative primary on a platform of tighter security and public spending cuts, initially said he would withdraw from the race if he was charged &#8211; but later said he was determined to let the voters judge him instead of investigators.</p>
<p>&#8220;France is greater than my errors,&#8221; he said.<br />
The alleged fake jobs are especially shocking to many voters because of Mr Fillon&#8217;s pledged spending cuts and his clean-cut image.</p>
<p>Investigative weekly Le Canard Enchaine reported that payments were made to Mrs Fillon and two of the couple&#8217;s five children that totalled more than one million euro (£850,000) over many years.</p>
<p>After a preliminary investigation opened on January 25, the financial prosecutor&#8217;s office decided on Friday to launch a formal judicial inquiry, turning it over to investigating judges who can bring charges or throw the case out.</p>
<p>The list of potential charges include misappropriation of public funds, abuse of public funds and influence trafficking.</p>
<p>Protesters have been at Mr Fillon&#8217;s recent campaign events for the election, in which far-right candidate Marine Le Pen is expected to make a strong showing.</p>
<p>Mr Fillon&#8217;s Republicans party has no clear Plan B for an eventual withdrawal by Mr Fillon.</p>
<p>The runner-up in the party&#8217;s first-ever primary, the more centre-leaning Alain Juppe, has said he would not want to run in Mr Fillon&#8217;s place.</p>
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