The Ordeal of Hassan Diab
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- Published on Monday, 17 July 2017 22:00
- Written by editor
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A Socialist Project e-bulletin .... No. 1450 .... July 18, 2017
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The Ordeal of Hassan Diab
Judith Deutsch
In December 2014, Hassan Diab, the former Carleton University sociology professor, husband to Rania, father of a lovely toddler daughter and one month before the birth of their delightful baby son, was whisked from his home by Canadian officials and extradited to France. The reason: suspicion that he was involved in the bombing of a Paris synagogue in 1980. It did not seem to matter to Canadian and French authorities that he was in Beirut at the time of the bombing, that his fingerprints did not match the proffered evidence and that the handwriting analysis was flawed. There was no personal history that could connect Hassan Diab in any way with this deed, and Canadian judge Maranger said... that the evidence was "very problematic," "convoluted," "very confusing," and "with conclusions that are suspect." Nor did it matter that Canadian extradition policy does not protect the rights of Canadian citizens.
Hassan Diab’s ordeal began in October 2007 when he noticed that unidentified agents were following him and when someone tried to break into his home. He reported these incidents to the Ottawa police, but the intimidating and intrusive surveillance persisted. He was arrested in 2008, and after many legal appeals he was extradited to France in 2014. He has now spent almost 1000 days in a French prison and is yet to be charged. To date, the Canadian government is silent. Not a word from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, Justice Minister Jodie Wilson-Raybould. No mea culpa from the former Harper government.
On April 24, 2017 French investigative judges ordered Diab’s release for the sixth time, citing evidence that Mr. Diab was in Beirut during the Paris bombing. All six release orders have been summarily overturned on appeal. On June 15, 2017, Amnesty International issued a press release expressing concern about France’s "alleged use of anonymous, unsourced and uncircumstanced evidence that may have been obtained by torture." Hassan Diab’s defenders include Amnesty International, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, the Canadian Association of University Teachers, Independent Jewish Voices, Union Juive Francaise pour La Paix (France). Counted among his many supporters are Noam Chomsky, Canadian filmmaker John Greyson, Monia Mazigh, and Hassan Yussuff (President of Canadian Labor Congress).