Parents say Cassez's days numbered if left in Mexican prison

The parents of Florence Cassez, a Frenchwoman sentenced to 60 years in prison in Mexico for kidnapping, said in an interview published Saturday that their daughter won't survive much longer in a Mexican prison.

"If we leave her and she remains in that prison, she won't last long. It's her death sentence ... that's why it's our obligation to try to bring her (home) with us," the convicted kidnapper's mother, Charlotte Cassez, said.

The family has enlisted the support of French President Nicolas Sarkozy in trying to pressure Mexican authorities to allow their daughter to serve out her sentence in France.

The French government says it has mobilized on behalf of Cassez – arrested on Dec. 8, 2005, on the Mexico City-Cuernavaca highway along with the alleged leader of the Los Zodiacos kidnapping gang – to ensure that justice is done and the rule of law is respected.

France's refusal to accept the Mexican courts' rulings in the case has caused a diplomatic spat that has marred plans for the "Year of Mexico in France," a series of more than 350 art, cultural and business events scheduled to run through 2011.

Mexico said it will not participate in the celebration after Sarkozy announced that attention will be brought to Cassez's situation at each activity.

In an interview with Mexico City daily El Universal, Cassez's parents pointed to alleged irregularities in their daughter's case, including the staging of a mock raid a day after her arrest so TV cameras could film the capture of the gang members in a wooded area near Mexico City.

Bernard Cassez, for his part, told the Mexican newspaper that there is proof that witnesses were tortured into testifying against his daughter and that the Mexican judges "did not study the case well" and also allegedly concealed evidence.

Cassez's father said neither he nor his wife is casting doubt on the Mexican justice system, as they have been accused.

"We're just asking (Mexican President Felipe Calderon) to respect the Strasbourg accords (which allow for the transfer of sentenced persons under a series of conditions), that they treat Florence fairly," he said, adding that Calderon "must understand that what we're asking is something entirely human."

"Mexico has asked the United States to (have Mexican prisoners transferred home), but he doesn't want to hear about moving Florence to France," Charlotte Cassez said.

"The Mexican government is stubborn and is closing the doors completely, but we believe that through dialogue and goodwill between the two sides there should be some way to reach an agreement," she added.

Calderon, however, said Friday that Mexico will not give in to France's "totally arbitrary and appalling" pressure to hand over Cassez based on the "whims of people or groups."

Florence Cassez, now 36, was the girlfriend of Israel Vallarta, the accused leader of the kidnapping gang Los Zodiacos, which allegedly mutilated victims to secure ransoms for their release.

Bernard Cassez said he does not know if Vallarta is a criminal or not but he questioned why he has not been tried more than five years after his arrest if he is the suspected leader of the gang, adding that the reason is probably "because they don't have evidence against him."

Although Cassez has proclaimed her innocence from the beginning, denying that she participated in kidnappings, a Mexican appellate court upheld her conviction earlier this month; in its ruling, it rejected a habeas corpus motion filed by her defense team, which denounced numerous irregularities in her case.

A poll released Wednesday in Mexico City found that 59 percent of Mexicans believe Cassez is guilty.

Only 8 percent of citizens believe she is innocent and the rest either said they did not know or did not answer, according to the poll conducted by the Strategic Communications Cabinet, or GCE, and published by the Milenio daily.

Mexico is experiencing a wave of violence attributed mainly to turf battles among rival drug cartels, as well as to kidnapping gangs and people smugglers.

A spiral of abductions, several involving the offspring of prominent businessmen, brought hundreds of thousands of Mexican citizens onto the streets in 2008 to demand that authorities crack down on kidnappers.

Last October, the Mexican Congress approved a bill that stiffens the penalties for kidnappers from 25 to 45 years behind bars when the victims are mutilated or if the criminals are retired or active-duty police officers, and from 40 to 70 years in prison if the victims are killed.

(Published by LAHT - February 21, 2011)