MEXICO: Florence Cassez, a French woman convicted of kidnapping in Mexico, was visited by First Deputy Mayor of Paris and the French Consul in Mexico
Record ID:
303913
MEXICO: Florence Cassez, a French woman convicted of kidnapping in Mexico, was visited by First Deputy Mayor of Paris and the French Consul in Mexico
- Title: MEXICO: Florence Cassez, a French woman convicted of kidnapping in Mexico, was visited by First Deputy Mayor of Paris and the French Consul in Mexico
- Date: 20th November 2010
- Summary: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (NOVEMBER 19, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF EXTERIOR OF PRISON WHERE CASSEZ IS BEING KEPT ANNE HIDALGO, FIRST DEPUTY MAYOR OF PARIS AND FRENCH CONSUL IN MEXICO VERA VALENZA IN VEHICLE VEHICLE'S NUMBER PLATES MORE OF HIDALGO AND VALENZA GETTING DOWN FROM VEHICLE BOTH TELLING CAMERAMEN THEY HAVE NOTHING TO SAY BOTH WALKING INTO PRISON VARIOUS OF PRISON EXTERIOR HIDLAGO AND VALENZA GETTING INTO VEHICLE MORE OF PRISON EXTERIOR
- Embargoed: 5th December 2010 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Mexico
- Country: Mexico
- Reuters ID: LVA96YT92CLY6NBV514SUU043688
- Story Text: Florence Cassez, a French woman jailed to 60 years in a Mexican jail after being found guilty of kidnapping, was visited by Anne Hidalgo, First Deputy Mayor of Paris and French Consul in Mexico Vera Valenza on Friday (November 19).
The meeting lasted for 45 minutes. Hidalgo and Vera did not comment on what they talked about.
Cassez was arrested in 2005 with her Mexican boyfriend, Israel Vallarta, in a police swoop on a ranch where three people, including an 8-year-old girl, were being held hostage.
She was initially sentenced to 96 years in prison, but an appeals court cut her term before French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived for an official visit in March last year. During his visit, he asked Mexico to consider allowing her to serve her sentence in France.
Lawyers for Cassez have launched new appeals against her sentence.
Last year, Mexican President Felipe Calderon said experts from France and Mexico determined it was impossible to return Florence Cassez to France under a Strasbourg convention on transferring foreign convicts.
Kidnapping is rampant in Mexico, and victims are often killed even after a ransom has been paid. It is unusual for foreigners to be involved in abductions for ransom.
Many Mexican politicians had called for Cassez to be kept in Mexico, arguing that letting her leave would send a message of leniency.
Calderon has launched an army assault on drug gangs whose turf wars killed over 31,000 people since Calderon took office in late 2006. The cartels often control kidnapping rings on their terrain.
Cassez, from the town of Beuvry in northern France, was working in a Mexico City hotel when she started dating Vallarta. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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