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Amnesty International gets in touch with France to stop its case versus Ottawa’s Hassan Diab

ByRomeo Minalane

Mar 20, 2023
Amnesty International gets in touch with France to stop its case versus Ottawa’s Hassan Diab

“We think this case is coming down into arbitrariness.”

Released Mar 18, 2023Last upgraded 6 hours ago4 minute read

A July 2019 file image of Hassan Diab at a media conference in Ottawa. Picture by Justin Tang /THE CANADIAN PRESS

An Ottawa university speaker deals with trial in absentia next month in France, where district attorneys continue to declare he was associated with a 1980 terrorist battle– regardless of proof he remained in Lebanon at the time.

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Hassan Diab, 69, a Canadian resident born in Lebanon, has actually been pursued by French authorities for 15 years.

Amnesty International has actually gotten in touch with the French federal government to stop is “groundless” prosecution of Diab and to discover those accountable for the Oct. 3, 1980, attack on a Paris synagogue that eliminated 4 individuals and hurt 40 others.

“The restored prosecution of Hassan Diab runs the risk of replacing the essential pursuit of reality and responsibility … with another travesty of justice,” Amnesty International stated in a current declaration.

Diab’s trial is arranged to start April 3. He will be represented in court by French attorneys while he stays in Ottawa.

In an interview, Fabien Goa, an Amnesty spokesperson based in Paris, stated France’s pursuit of the deeply problematic case angered the nation’s dedication to reasonable trials preserved in the European Convention on Human Rights.

“We think this case is coming down into arbitrariness,” he stated.

Ottawa’s Roger Clark, a member of the Hassan Diab Support Committee, contacted the Canadian federal government to release a declaration ensuring that Diab would not be extradited to France for a 2nd time if he’s condemned at the approaching trial.

“I believe it’s crucial for Canada to indicate to the French authorities that Canada does decline this is a reasonable trial,” stated Clark, previous secretary general of Amnesty International (Canada). “This, I believe, belongs to Canada’s commitment to secure its residents.”

Clark stated he did not think Diab might get a reasonable trial in France considering that the only possible proof versus him would originate from secret intelligence sources.

“I believe Canada needs to be extremely, extremely firm, and make it extremely clear– even prior to the trial starts– that it will decline a 2nd ask for his extradition,” Clark stated. “There’s no justice if an innocent male is founded guilty.”

Diab’s Ottawa legal representative, Donald Bayne, stated the case had actually ended up being deeply politicized in France with numerous outdoors celebrations– representing victims and Jewish groups– promoting a prosecution. French appeal courts have actually stated those celebrations should have a trial.

“Unfortunately,” Bayne stated, “it suggests they are worthy of a scapegoat. It’s rather uncomfortable. There’s still a slim hope that some factor will dominate in France and the court will acquit him based on the proof.”

Diab deals with danger in the event since France might seek his extradition for sentencing if he was condemned.

Bayne swore to strenuously withstand any such extradition demand “as unjustified and an abuse of procedure.”

Legal Representative Don Bayne, left, and Hassan Diab hold a press conference at Amnesty International (Canada) in Ottawa on Jan. 17, 2018, following Diab’s go back to Canada. Image by LARS HAGBERG /AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

The Diab case has a long, unusual history.

Diab was detained in November 2008 based upon a French ask for extradition and held in custody for practically 4 months.

France’s case versus Diab, provided throughout the extradition hearing, was circumstantial. It relied greatly on a handwriting analysis that connected Diab to words the believed bomber penned on a hotel registration card.

Diab’s legal group presented its own handwriting professionals, who challenged the approaches and conclusions of the French analysis.

The extradition judge, Ontario Superior Court Justice Robert Maranger, explained the case versus Diab as “weak” and stated the possibility of his conviction was not likely in a reasonable trial.

Maranger stated Canadian law was such that he might not reject extradition and he purchased Diab turned over to French authorities.

Following appeals that went all the method to the Supreme Court of Canada, Diab was extradited to France, where he invested 3 years behind bars, waiting for trial.

In January 2018, 2 investigative French magistrates dismissed the accusations versus Diab due to an absence of proof and purchased his release from prison without trial. Marc Herbaut and Richard Foltzer stated they discovered proof to support Diab’s contention that he had actually remained in Beirut, composing tests, at the time of the battle.

The judges utilized university records and interviews with previous schoolmates to conclude Diab was “most likely in Lebanon” throughout September and October 1980, making it not likely that he was the guy who bombed the Paris syna

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