Renewed Call for Justice for Hassan Diab: Prevent a Second Extradition and Reform Canada’s Extradition Act!

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With a new Federal government now in place, we are at a critical juncture. It’s time to renew our collective call for justice: Urge the Canadian government to reject any new extradition request for Dr. Hassan Diab, and reform Canada’s inadequate and unfair Extradition Act.

In 2014, Hassan Diab was extradited from Canada to France based on deeply flawed and fabricated evidence. However, a thorough investigation by two of France’s most respected investigative judges, Jean-Marc Herbaut and Richard Foltzer, found no grounds to justify putting him on trial for the bombing of a Paris synagogue 1980. In fact, key ‘evidence’, including fingerprint analysis, handwriting comparisons, and a solid alibi, clearly excluded Hassan as the suspect.

In January 2018, after spending 38 months in a French prison, the investigating judges ordered Hassan’s immediate release, and he returned to his home and family in Canada.

Shockingly, in April 2023, a trial held in absentia at the Paris Special Assize Court disregarded the findings of the investigative judges and declared Hassan Diab guilty. The proceedings were marred by serious irregularities, including the use of undisclosed ‘intelligence’, suppression of exculpatory evidence, defamatory claims, and perjured testimony. The outcome was not justice—it was a profound miscarriage of justice.

Reform Canada’s Extradition Act Now

On June 7, 2023, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights (JUST) released a report titled “Reforming Canada’s Extradition System”. The report cited Hassan Diab’s case as a striking example of the dangers and injustices enabled by Canada’s current extradition law, and outlined 20 key recommendations for reform.

Read the full JUST report:
https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/441/JUST/Reports/RP12497997/justrp13/justrp13-e.pdf

We urge the Canadian government to act now: Implement the 20 recommendations of the JUST report, and protect Canadians from wrongful extradition.

Action: Send a Postcard to Prime Minister Mark Carney

Please take part in our postcard campaign and urge the Prime Minister to act now for justice and extradition reform.

Postcards are available at Octopus Books, 116 Third Avenue, Ottawa. Please drop by Octopus Books to sign a postcard, and get extra postcards to share with others.

You can also order postcards by sending an email to diabsupport@gmail.com. Please provide your postal mailing address and the number of postcards you’d like to receive, and we will gladly mail postcards to you.

(No postage is required when mailing the postcard within Canada.)

“Hassan Diab’s nightmare and the ‘fascist agenda’” — Essay by Roger Clark

The essay highlights how Diab’s case is part of a dangerous trend where labeling, scapegoating, and denial of rights serve to erode democratic principles. The essay emphasizes the importance of upholding justice and human rights.

https://www.justiceforhassandiab.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hassan-Diab-and-Fascist-Agenda.pdf

Please share posts about the essay on your social media:   Facebook,   X,   Bluesky

“What Can the Diab Affair Tell us About Far-Right Politics?” — Article by Michelle Weinroth

The article shows how the Diab case exemplifies key tactics of far-right politics: scapegoating marginalized individuals, suppressing inconvenient truths, and manipulating public opinion through misinformation. The Canadian government’s prolonged silence and inaction regarding Dr. Diab’s case, has allowed right-wing elements to exploit the situation for political gain.

https://socialistproject.ca/2025/04/what-can-diab-affair-tell-us-far-right-politics

Please share posts about the article on your social media:   Facebook,   X,   Bluesky

“The Copernic Affair” – A Canadaland Podcast Series

“The Copernic Affair”, is a six-part investigation into the Diab case, featuring interviews with Hassan Diab and others involved in the case.

Article and interviews with the podcast hosts, Dana Ballout and Alex Atack:

Thank you for standing with Hassan Diab and speaking out for justice and human rights!

Hassan Diab – An Innocent Man Scapegoated by Lies and Disinformation

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In the last few months, there has been a concerted and malicious campaign against Dr. Hassan Diab, which has directly triggered hate mail and threats against him and his family.

The Hassan Diab Support Committee, which has been active on Hassan Diab’s behalf for over 16 years, has issued a Media Statement to provide the fundamental facts which are being ignored or deliberately distorted by those who seek to scapegoat and harm Hassan.

The label “convicted synagogue bomber”, plastered on Dr. Diab, is a vilification resting on the verdict of an in absentia sham trial at the Paris Special Assize Court in 2023. The trial was designed to convict Dr. Diab. Among many concerns about the manner in which the French trial was conducted, the unjust conviction was based on secret, unsourced, and unreliable “intelligence” – inadmissible in the Canadian system of justice.

The Canadian government must not be party to this injustice and must state urgently and unequivocally that Hassan Diab will not be subjected to a second extradition to France.

Read the full Media statement

Outpouring of Support for Dr. Hassan Diab

In the face of the disinformation campaign against Dr. Hassan Diab, civil society groups, organisations, and politicians have spoken out in support of Hassan.

Please Take Two Actions to Counter Unjust and Hateful Attacks Against Dr. Hassan Diab

  1. Send a letter to the Carleton University administration and Board of Governors, urging them to not succumb to pressure and to protect Dr. Hassan Diab. He is an innocent man, wrongfully declared guilty in absentia in a sham French trial in April 2023.
  1. Send a letter to the Canadian Minister of Justice and the Canadian government, urging them to protect Dr. Hassan Diab and refuse any second request for his extradition to France.
     
    Écrire une lettre au gouvernement canadien.

Please Spread the Word!

Please share the following posts on your social media:

Thank you for your continued support!

Please Take Two Actions to Counter Unjust and Hateful Attacks Against Dr. Hassan Diab

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A coordinated campaign of disinformation, harassment, and death threats is being levelled at Dr. Hassan Diab, demanding his termination from his teaching position at Carleton University, and his extradition to France for a crime he did not commit.

  1. Take a minute to send a letter to the Carleton University administration and Board of Governors, urging them to not succumb to pressure and to protect Dr. Hassan Diab. He is an innocent man, wrongfully declared guilty in absentia in a sham French trial in April 2023.
  1. Take a minute to send a letter to the Canadian Minister of Justice, Mr. Arif Virani, and the Canadian government, urging the Canadian government to protect Dr. Hassan Diab and refuse any second request for his extradition to France.
     
    Écrire une lettre au gouvernement canadien.

Interview on CBC Power & Politics, November 21, 2024

Watch Don Bayne, Hassan Diab’s lawyer, and supporter Roger Clark counter the disinformation campaign against Hassan:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XV2khYDo2o

Additional News and Support

Canada Must Protect Hassan Diab from Malicious Threats and a Second Extradition!

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On November 21, 2024, CBC “Power and Politics” host, David Cochrane, interviewed Don Bayne (Hassan Diab’s Canadian Lawyer) and Roger Clark (Representative of the Hassan Diab Support Committee).

The recent threats against Dr. Hassan Diab highlight the lack of knowledge about his case and a malicious misinformation campaign. The Canadian government’s silence since his wrongful “conviction” in absentia in 2023 has allowed criminal threats to surface and allowed public figures to misstate — either negligently or knowingly — the facts of Hassan’s case.

The Canadian Government must protect Hassan Diab and publicly state that it will not accept any request for Hassan Diab’s extradition to France (a second time) for a crime he did not commit.

Senator Marilou McPhedran poses questions about the case of Dr. Hassan Diab during the October 9, 2024, session of the Senate of Canada

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Senator Marilou McPhedran posed the following questions:

“In 2014, Canadian citizen Dr. Hassan Diab was accused of terrorism, extradited to France, imprisoned there for over three years, until exonerated by French courts for lack of credible evidence. In 2023, he was retried in absentia by France on the same discredited evidence and sentenced to life in prison. Back here in Canada, he now may be facing a second extradition request. Outraged by this appalling treatment of Dr. Diab, some 4,000 Canadians recently signed a petition calling upon our government to deny any future extradition request and protect Dr. Diab’s rights. In its official response, the Federal government refused to confirm that Dr. Diab will be protected under Canadian law and shielded from any future extradition request. I remind you that Prime Minister Trudeau stated in 2011 that what happened to Dr. Diab never should have happened. How can the government justify this position?”

“The French and Canadian abuses in this shameful case have been well documented by legal scholars, the Department of Justice review, and the House of Commons Justice Committee. All have identified an unjust lack of transparency and disclosure in the current Extradition Act. Ignoring Canadian law in Dr. Diab’s case, exculpatory evidence long known to French and Canadian authorities was not disclosed. How can the government now commit to protecting Dr. Diab?”