Hollande slammed for sending envoy to Mexico over Cassez affair

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé says he is “scandalised” by the decision by Socialist Party presidential candidate, François Hollande to send a former minister to Mexico in a visit aimed at repairing the damage caused by the Florence Cassez affair. 

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Cassez, a 37-year-old French woman, was sentenced to 60 years in prison in Mexico on kidnap charges in a case that has soured diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Juppé said the move was aimed at gaining “political and electoral capital from Cassez’ situation.”

Hollande’s campaign team said on Saturday that former Socialist minister Michel Vauzelle, was in Mexico to prepare the way for a G20 summit to be held in June and insisted “there was no parallel initiative, direct or indirect, political or diplomatic concerning the Cassez case”.

Meanwhile, Cassez’s lawyer, Frank Berton, said he was pleased that Hollande’s team had “backpedalled” over the reasons behind Vauzelle’s visit.

“I am asking the emissary to not bring up the Florence Cassez case,” he said. “ We do not want politicians involved in this affair. If they want to play a part, they can offer support, but not any form of intervention especially from a man who is simply a presidential candidate.”

Last month, a panel of Mexico Supreme Court judges ruled against releasing Cassez but agreed to further study her appeal.