WEB:

TYPE: CN ))

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has welcomed a motion by Mexico's Supreme Court justice to release a Frenchwoman serving a 60-year sentence for kidnapping.

The French leader was quoted Thursday as saying, the decision to overturn Florence Cassez sentence was “the first good news in five and half years”.

The judge said in his ruling, Cassez was denied immediate access to an attorney, and was not presented before prosecutors in due time following her arrest in 2005.

Prosecutors accused Cassez of being involved in a Mexican kidnapping gang allegedly led by her boyfriend.

She has denied involvement in any kidnappings.

The final decision on Cassez release lies with a panel of five Mexican judges set to vote on the justice's motion.