Canada should not accept any second request from the French Government for the extradition of Dr. Hassan Diab

Posted on by

On 12 June 2024, Parliamentary petition e-4901 was presented to the Government of Canada. Over 3,500 Canadians, from every province and territory, signed and called for a formal declaration that “Canada will neither accept nor agree to any second request from the French Government for the extradition of Dr. Hassan Diab”.

The Government tabled its response on 21 August 2024, stating:

“The Government of Canada cannot confirm or deny the existence of requests for extradition as this would disclose confidential state-to-state communications. The Government of Canada emphasizes that all extradition requests that are received are examined carefully, taking into consideration the totality of the relevant circumstances, the Extradition Act, Canada’s international obligations, and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”

The Government’s response is a ‘non-reply’ and is totally unacceptable. The failure of the Canadian Government to acknowledge the pain it continues to inflict on Dr. Diab and on his family is an outrage. By hiding behind its duplicitous legalese and using the camouflage of confidentiality, Canada is evading its legal, moral, and human responsibility. What is worse, it only serves to prolong the nightmare it has created.

Today, we are making public the following Open Letter sent on 3 September 2024 to the Honourable Arif Virani, Minister of Justice/Attorney General of Canada:

Dear Minister Virani:

Canada’s wrongful extradition of Dr. Hassan Diab to France a decade ago must not be repeated. Dr. Diab was wrongfully extradited from Canada to France in 2014 for his alleged involvement in a bombing outside a Paris synagogue in 1980. After he had spent over three years in a French prison, two French (counter-terrorism) investigative magistrates found no evidence to send him to trial and released him unconditionally. Dr. Diab returned to his home in Canada in January 2018. However, the French prosecutor appealed his release and, on April 21, 2023, Dr. Diab was sentenced in absentia to life in prison.

  1. We urge you to give clear assurances that Dr. Hassan Diab will not be extradited a look second time for a crime he did not commit.
  2. All the recommendations of the report, Reforming Canada’s Extradition System by the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights (JUST) must be implemented. In particular, the disclosure of exculpatory evidence must be compulsory (JUST’s Recommendation 11). The non-disclosure of exculpatory evidence during the extradition hearing was central to Dr. Diab’s committal for extradition in 2014.

This Open Letter has been signed by over 115 of Canada’s leading lawyers, experts on extradition and international human rights law, legal academics (including several professors emeriti), and a wide representation of legal practitioners from across Canada.

Click on the following link for the full list of signatories on the Open Letter:
https://www.justiceforhassandiab.org/open-letter-to-minister-arif-virani-2024#signatures

Hassan Diab Recounts His Release from French Prison on January 12, 2018

Posted on by

Dr. Hassan Diab was wrongfully extradited from Canada to France in 2014, for alleged involvement in the Rue Copernic bombing in Paris in 1980. He spent more than three years in a French prison before investigative judges determined that there was no evidence linking him to the crime, and ordered his immediate and unconditional release.

While this captured a moment of pure joy, sadly it did not last long. The French prosecutor appealed the release decision for political reasons and Hassan remains under the threat of being extradited once again to France for a crime he did not commit.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau must honour his words on June 20, 2018, when he acknowledged that “this is something that obviously was an extremely difficult situation to go through for himself [Hassan], for his family” and promised to “make sure that it never happens again”.

Music credit: “Compassion” by Edoy / License:
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Thank You – Hassan Diab Petition Presented to Parliament!

Posted on by

Our latest petition for Dr. Hassan Diab closed on Monday, June 10 with 3,578 signatures. Tremendous thanks to everyone who helped to make our Parliamentary petition a success by signing and sharing the petition!

https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-4901 (English)
https://www.noscommunes.ca/petitions/fr/Petition/Details?Petition=e-4901 (Français)

The petition calls upon the Government of Canada to “formally declare that Canada will neither accept nor agree to any second request from the French Government for the extradition of Dr. Hassan Diab in connection with the 1980 Paris attack.”

The petition was sponsored by NDP Member of Parliament Heather McPherson (Edmonton Strathcona) who presented the petition to Parliament on Wednesday June 12, 2024. The Canadian Government has 45 calendar days to respond to the petition. If the House is not sitting on that day, the response must be presented at the next sitting of the House. Realistically, we can expect the Government to respond shortly after the House resumes sitting on September 16.

This petition comes on the heels of a report by the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights (JUST) entitled “Reforming Canada’s Extradition System”, which highlighted Hassan’s case as a shocking example of the shortcomings of Canada’s Extradition Act. The report included 20 recommendations for reforming Canada’s Extradition Act.

https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/44-1/JUST/report-13

The Canadian government must protect Hassan Diab from further injustice, refuse any second request for Hassan’s extradition, and implement the reforms proposed by JUST as soon as possible.

Please spread the word about the petition made to the Canadian Government and the urgent need for a strong positive response.

Parliamentary Petition Closes Soon
Please Sign & Share!

Posted on by

Please sign Parliamentary Petition e-4901 to the Government of Canada and share it widely. The petition closes on June 10.

IMPORTANT: Please check your email immediately after signing the petition and respond to an email asking you to confirm your signature. This will ensure that your name gets added to the petition.

Hassan Diab continues to be subjected to a prolonged and unjust ordeal created by Canada and France. More than one year ago, a French court unjustly declared him guilty and sentenced him in absentia to life in prison for a crime he did not commit. The Canadian government must protect Hassan and say NO to any second extradition request from France.

Hear what supporters are saying about the petition…

One Year on From French Court INJUSTICE, Hassan Diab Remains Unprotected and in Limbo

Posted on by

One year ago, on 21 April 2023, the Special Court of Assize in Paris unjustly declared Canadian citizen Hassan Diab guilty, based on unfounded allegations and flawed intelligence that is not allowed in a Canadian court. He was sentenced in absentia to life in prison for a crime he did not commit: the 1980 bombing outside a Paris synagogue.

Driven by political pressure to scapegoat an innocent man, the Special Court of Assize trial ignored exonerating evidence and the alibi firmly establishing Dr. Diab’s presence in Beirut, Lebanon, at the time of the tragic 1980 attack. The prosecutors were allowed to vilify the accused, filibuster, and steal the defense’s speaking time. The court had no transcripts or other recording of the event.

In a mind-boggling irony, the Court of Assize in 2023 relied on the intelligence that France had withdrawn from the Canadian extradition hearing in 2011 to declare him guilty, AND discarded the handwriting analysis that was used to commit him to extradition in 2014 due to its unreliability.

In short, the intelligence which was withdrawn from the extradition proceedings more than a decade ago became France’s basis for sentencing Hassan Diab to life in prison in 2023. Meanwhile, the handwriting analysis that was used to extradite him was discarded by the Special Court of Assize. In essence, France and Canada cancelled each other’s grounds for inculpating Hassan Diab.

Dr. Hassan Diab continues to be subjected to a prolonged and unjust ordeal created by Canada and France. The French court’s declaration of guilt one year ago prolongs the suffering of Hassan and his family. The Canadian government must say NO to a second extradition request from France (whether already submitted or to be submitted).

Read the full media notice.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

Featured Video: Roger Clark invites you to sign our new petition:
https://youtu.be/BwgMiooWe9Q

Petition in English:
https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-4901

Pétition en français:
https://noscommunes.ca/petitions/fr/Petition/Details?Petition=e-4901

The petition will close for signatures on June 10, 2024, at 1:10 pm (EDT).
Please distribute widely!