| | |  News Around the Republic of Mexico | June 2009 
Florence Cassez to Serve Sixty-Year Sentence in Mexico
 Presidencia de la República
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June 23, 2009
| | President Felipe Calderon speaks from Official Residence | |
Good afternoon members of the media.
I am very grateful for your presence this afternoon, since I have an important announcement for Mexicans.
The Mexican government has reached the conclusion that there are no conditions that would enable it to consent to the transfer of Florence Cassez to her country of origin, France, as mentioned in the Strasbourg Convention.
Florence Cassez will serve her 60-year prison sentence in Mexico for the crimes committed against various people in Mexico.
As you are aware, Florence Cassez was arrested according to the law and condemned, in the first and second instance, for the crime of the illegal deprival of freedom, through kidnapping, organized crime and for the carrying and possession of weapons to be used exclusively by the Armed Forces.
The sentence passed by the Mexican courts was 70 years in prison, of which she will serve 60, since this is the maximum period of imprisonment permitted by law, in addition to the responsibility that consists of repairing the corresponding damage.
Mrs. Cassez has been allowed to use all the means of defense provided by Mexican legislation and the Constitution to anyone in a similar situation.
Making full use of her rights, she has appealed various sentences and agreements in the courts which, on the basis of the proof and evidence submitted, have determined her guilt.
As a citizen of another nationality, Florence Cassez also exercised her right to request assistance from the government of her country, France. In March, it was therefore agreed to create a Binational Mexico-France Commission to examine the possible application of the Agreement on the Transfer of Condemned Persons from the Council of Europe, known as the Strasbourg Convention in this case.
According to this Agreement, which Mexico signed in 2007, citizens from signatory countries may be transferred to their countries of origin to serve the sentences passed by courts of other nations.
For this to happen, both countries must agree on the transfer and therefore each express their consent. In this case, the French Government considered that the Convention would enable Florence Cassez to serve her sentence in that country if the Mexican Government consented to this.
However, the French government also declared that it reserved the right to decide on the suspension or reduction of the sentence and on the means of serving it.
This raised the possibility that Florence Cassez would not serve the sentence the Mexican legal authorities had passed or that it would be significantly reduced.
This is unacceptable for Mexico. The Mexican government has the unavoidable duty to ensure that the sentence passed by a judge should always be served. The case of Mrs. Florence Cassez cannot be an exception.
Thus, the Mexican delegation that participated in the Binational Mexico-France Commission concluded that there are no conditions to ensure that the sentence passed by Mexican courts will be fully served in France, making it impossible to agree and provide Mexico's consent to a voluntary binational agreement within the framework of the Strasbourg Convention.
I would like to say that the Mexican government has every intention of complying with international obligations derived from treaties, in accordance with the Constitution and the legal resolutions based on the latter.
That is why the Mexican delegation examined every aspect regarding the possible application of the Strasbourg Convention to Mrs. Cassez's case.
It is worth noting that the Convention in no way obliges the state in question to consent to a transfer request. This administration has an inescapable commitment to legality.
As never before, we have engaged in an all-out fight against organized crime, particularly the crimes that harm Mexican society, such as kidnapping.
This despicable crime not only permanently affects the person who suffers it but also damages families and communities, condemning them to live in the fear and uncertainty caused by the disappearance of a loved one.
We cannot allow this grief and despair to add to the indignation and impotence derived from the impunity of criminals.
That is why Federal Government is committed to ensuring that kidnapping victims and their relatives find justice.
We are making every effort to break the vicious circle of impunity, fear, committing of new crimes and a new impunity that has enabled kidnapping gangs in our country to grow and harm society.
Let it be quite clear that no-one in Mexico, regardless of their social or economic condition or nationality can avoid compliance with the law. The law is the same for everyone and anyone that breaks it must pay for the consequences, regardless of their credo, political preference, social or economic status or nationality.
This is what Mexicans demand and this is the commitment we will continue to honor through actions, every day of this administration.
Thank you for your attention. |
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