By Canadian Press

France’s Supreme Court to rule on Hassan Diab extradition next week: lawyer

May 12, 2021 | 9:30 AM

OTTAWA — A lawyer for Hassan Diab says the Canadian government should not be part of any further wrongful extradition of the Ottawa sociology professor regardless of the outcome of a looming French Supreme Court ruling. 

Donald Bayne told a virtual news conference today the government should assure Diab and Canadians that the country will not involved in any further injustice. 

A Jan. 27 decision by the French Appeal Court ordering Diab stand trial has been appealed by his French lawyers and Bayne says the French Supreme Court will decide on this appeal next Wednesday.

French authorities suspected Diab was involved in the 1980 bombing of a Paris synagogue that killed four people and injured dozens of others, an accusation he has consistently denied.

After lengthy proceedings that went all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, Diab was extradited to France, where he spent three years behind bars, including time in solitary confinement.

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In January 2018, French judges dismissed the allegations against him for lack of evidence and ordered his immediate release.

After that court ruling, Diab, 67, came back to Ottawa to live with his wife and young children.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 12, 2021.

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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

The Canadian Press