Photo by Nicolas Kovarik/IP3/Getty Images(PARIS) — French presidential candidate Francois Fillon will remain in the race despite announcing that he is under formal investigation.

Fillon is a center-right candidate who has spent weeks fighting allegations that his wife was paid for work she did not do. On Wednesday, Fillon called the claims “a political assassination.”

He will appear before a judge on March 15, just two days before candidates to submit their final applications.

In a speech Wednesday, Fillon called on his supporters to “resist,” the BBC said. “It’s not just me that is being assassinated, it’s the presidential election.”

“The voice of millions of votes have been muzzled,” Fillon added.

The judge, Serge Tournaire, has previously heard high-profile cases, including those involving former French President Nicolas Sarkozy and businessman Bernard Tapie.

Fillon was a prime minister of France during Sarkozy’s presidency. He and National Front leader Marine le Pen are among the favorites to advance to a runoff round.

Fillon’s wife Penelope said she was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars while working as a parliamentary assistant for several years. According to the BBC, reports indicate that those claims have been called into doubt.

Earlier in the campaign, Fillon said that he would step down if placed under formal investigation. Now, however, he says he will fight on “until victory.”

“The closer we get to the date of the presidential election, the more scandalous it would be to deprive the right and center of a candidate,” he explained.

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