Frenchwoman freed from Mexican jail
Source: Agencies |
January 25, 2013, Friday
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A Frenchwoman who spent seven years in prison in Mexico on kidnapping charges returned to a hero's welcome in Paris yesterday, declaring she had been cleared by the Mexican court that ordered her freed.
Florence Cassez was greeted by France's foreign minister as she left the plane, with the promise of a meeting today with the president. Her arrest, trial and 60-year prison sentence made her a cause celebre in France, where television networks carried her return live, hours after relatives of kidnap victims angrily shouted "Killer!" as police whisked her away from the Mexico City prison.
Two consecutive French presidents called for the release of Cassez, who was ordered freed on Wednesday because of flaws in her trial, bringing to a close a case that had strained relations between the countries.
"I was cleared," she said yesterday. "I suffered as a victim for more than seven years."
Anti-crime activists in Mexico vigorously opposed the ruling to free her.
The wife of one kidnap victim showed up on Wednesday as reporters gathered outside the Mexico City prison where Cassez had been held. Michelle Valadez said her husband, Ignacio, was kidnapped and held for three months by Cassez's boyfriend's gang in 2005.
"We paid the ransom, but they killed him anyway," she said, sobbing. "It's not fair what they've done to us, it's not fair they're freeing her."
Florence Cassez was greeted by France's foreign minister as she left the plane, with the promise of a meeting today with the president. Her arrest, trial and 60-year prison sentence made her a cause celebre in France, where television networks carried her return live, hours after relatives of kidnap victims angrily shouted "Killer!" as police whisked her away from the Mexico City prison.
Two consecutive French presidents called for the release of Cassez, who was ordered freed on Wednesday because of flaws in her trial, bringing to a close a case that had strained relations between the countries.
"I was cleared," she said yesterday. "I suffered as a victim for more than seven years."
Anti-crime activists in Mexico vigorously opposed the ruling to free her.
The wife of one kidnap victim showed up on Wednesday as reporters gathered outside the Mexico City prison where Cassez had been held. Michelle Valadez said her husband, Ignacio, was kidnapped and held for three months by Cassez's boyfriend's gang in 2005.
"We paid the ransom, but they killed him anyway," she said, sobbing. "It's not fair what they've done to us, it's not fair they're freeing her."
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