Guadalajara -
Then mademoiselle Florence Cassez of Paris didn't look much like she had romance on her mind in this December 2005 photo, taken shortly after she and her lover were arrested by Mexican Federal Police. Both were accused of being principals (he the jeffe) of the notorious Los Zodiaco, a regional gang which specialized in kidnapping ordinary Mexicans off the street and holding them for ransom.
Alas, boyfriend still finds himself incarcerated "for the duration," as the saying goes. But legal fate was kinder to Cassez, and in January the highest tribunal of this country ordered her discharged, despite the fact that she had been sentenced to 60 years. Mexico's Supreme Court orders Florence Cassez freed. With a first class Air France ticket in hand she returned to Paris that same evening, where she was greeted like Joan of Arc on arrival at Orly. No justice for Mexicans in Cassez ruling.
Although the court's ruling was purely procedural and did not address the question of her actual guilt or innocence, the decision in l'affaire Cassez further fanned the flames of opinion on the long running cause célèbre which, for a time, disrupted normally tranquil French-Mexican diplomatic relations.
News sources report today that Cassez, 38, got married on Saturday to a French-Mexican identified only as "Fausto," whom she met during her 85 month confinement and who regularly visited her in prison. The wedding took place in the famous English Channel town of Dunkirk, scene of the massive World War II evacuation of British troops as German forces bore down on them in late May 1940.
Félicitations, Florence, from all of your friends in Mexico.
Reader note: The happy couple will not be honeymooning in Mexico. Florence is reportedly still in a "delicate state of health," reacclimating after her long incarceration and yet unable to resume work.
An almost perfect song for Florence and Fausto
Le Monde's front page, Thursday, Jan. 24: "Florence Cassez is free, after seven years in prison"
Apr. 19 - Mexican Supreme Court orders Canadian Cynthia Vanier released on legal technicalities
© MGRR 2013. All rights reserved. This article may be cited or briefly quoted with proper attribution or a hyperlink, but not reproduced without permission.
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