Supreme Court judges order release of jailed Frenchwoman
- Details
- Published on Wednesday, 23 January 2013 15:38
- Written by GR Staff
Bringing a high-profile case and seven years of controversy to a close, Mexico’s Supreme Court has ordered the immediate release of a Frenchwoman serving 60 years in prison for kidnapping.
In a 3-2 vote on Wednesday, the justices ruled that the rights of Florence Cassez, 38, were seriously violated at the time of her arrest in December 2005. Judge Olga Sanchez Codero stressed that the ruling has no bearing on her innocence or guilt.
Cassez admits being the girlfriend of the leader of a kidnapping gang but says she did not know about three abducted victims he was holding captive in a ranch where they were both living.
The judges agreed that televised footage of her arrest – actually staged a day later by a TV company in collaboration with police – had tainted the case against her. They also dismissed other key evidence used against her.
Cassez was also denied proper consular assistance at the time of her arrest, the judges noted.
The Supreme Court heard her case in March 2012, but only two of the five judges at that time voted for her release.
In the latest deliberation, Alfredo Gutierrez Ortiz Mena, who has served as a Supreme Court justice for scarcely two months, voted in favor of the Frenchwoman's release.
The "Affaire Cassez," as the French media coined her case, have soured Mexico's relations with France for the past few years.
Former President Nicolas Sarkozy gave Cassez and her family his staunch support and tried unsuccessfully to get Cassez repatriated to serve her sentence in France.
President Francois Hollande has been more reserved in his statements on the case but welcomed Wednesday's decision.
"France thanks everyone who has made sure that truth and justice prevail," he said Wednesday.
President Felipe Calderon had opposed the release of Cassez, preferring to take the side of victims' organizations that lobbied hard for Cassez to serve her full sentence.
The release of Cassez less than two months after Enrique Peña Nieto assumed the Mexican presidency may raise renewed questions over the independence of the judicial and executive branches.
Cassez's father Bernard, who is currently in Mexico City, was expected to accompany his daughter back to France after her release, which is expected later on Wednesday.
"I'm crazy with joy. I still can't believe it," Cassez's mother Charlotte told reporters.
Proudly a member of Network of Websites - a monitored compilation of quality websites adhering to strict standards of integrity, security, modern technology, and benefits to the community.