eBulletin – October 21, 2011

“Stop Unjust Extradition Proceedings”

In this issue:

1. “J’Accuse”: Toronto Fundraiser for Hassan Diab on October 29
2. Video of Public Lecture “Extradition Law on Trial” Held at Carleton University
3. BCCLA Letter to the Minister of Justice about Hassan Diab’s Case
4. Blog: “Canada’s Extradition Process a Kafkaesque Nightmare”
5. What You Can Do


1. “J’Accuse”: Toronto Fundraiser for Hassan Diab, October 29

Join us for an evening of powerful dramatic readings from Hassan Diab, Emile Zola, and others who have broken the silence and spoken out about the injustices they face.

Date: Saturday October 29, 2011
Time: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Place: Beit Zatoun, 612 Markham Street, Toronto, Canada

In 1894 Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish French soldier, was charged with treason. The accusation, based on fraudulent handwriting analysis, unleashed waves of anti-Semitism. Eminent French writer Emile Zola wrote J’Accuse to expose “the spectre of the innocent man who, far away, is suffering the most atrocious of tortures for a crime he did not commit — It is a crime to exploit patriotism for works of hate.”

Right now, exactly repeating the past, France rests its case against Hassan Diab on the basis of fraudulent handwriting analysis. In this climate of Islamophobia, France has asked the Canadian government to comply and extradite Hassan Diab to France where he faces an unfair trial that could land him in jail for life. Hassan remains under house arrest in Canada.

* Doors open at 6:45 PM
* Tasty refreshments and Zatoun olive oil and za’atar served
* Suggested donation: $10

View announcement for this event at:
http://beitzatoun.org/cms/Events/View/11-10-29/J_Accuse.aspx


2. Video of Public Lecture “Extradition Law on Trial” Held at Carleton University

On October 19, 2011, a public lecture about Hassan Diab’s case was held at Carleton University. The speakers were Donald Bayne, Hassan’s lawyer, and Nathalie Des Rosiers, General Counsel of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA). The lecture was moderated by Bill Skidmore, instructor at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies (Human Rights) at Carleton University.

The event included a discussion of the following topics:
* Why exonerating evidence was not allowed in court
* How Canada’s extradition law is fundamentally unfair
* Why a fair trial in France is unlikely

A video of the event is available at:
http://prism-magazine.com/2011/10/video-hassan-diab-panel-featuring-nathalie-desrosiers-and-donald-bayne


3. BCCLA Letter to the Minister of Justice about Hassan Diab’s Case

The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) sent a letter to the Canadian Minister of Justice, Mr. Robert Nicholson, about the case of Dr. Hassan Diab. The letter urges the Minister to ensure that Canadian citizens are protected against foreign prosecutions relying on evidence derived from torture.

Read the full BCCLA letter:
http://bccla.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/20110912-BCCLA-Letter-Minister-of-Justice-Hassan-Diab.pdf

Read the BCCLA National Security Blog “No complicity in torture”:
http://bccla.org/2011/09/no-complicity-in-torture


4. Blog: “Canada’s Extradition Process a Kafkaesque Nightmare”

By the Vegetable News Network

“You’ve ‘disappeared’ into a labyrinth of byzantine officialdom, where human rights and reality and rationality are not always what they seem; where you’ve been charged with a hideous crime 30 years in the past; where the evidence is either secret, or ludicrous enough to be laughable — were it only a dream…

France figures it has enough evidence to request extradition of Dr. Diab to stand trial for the 1980 bombing outside of a Paris synagogue. Yet the strongest evidence submitted is a handwriting analysis that was shown to be completely inaccurate. So much so that French authorities withdrew the evidence in May of 2010, only to resubmit another handwriting report…”

Read the full blog entry at:
http://www.vegnewsnet.com/Aug1-11.html


5. What You Can Do

(a) Donate to Hassan Diab’s legal defence fund and/or help relieve the cost of his GPS monitoring. To donate, visit: http://www.justiceforhassandiab.org/donate

(b) Write to the Minister of Justice, Mr. Rob Nicholson, and urge him NOT to surrender Hassan. (Please share your letter with diabsupport@gmail.com.) A sample letter is available:

* English – Letter to the Minister of Justice (.doc):
http://www.justiceforhassandiab.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/letter_minister_en.doc

* Français – Lettre à la ministre de la Justice (.doc):
http://www.justiceforhassandiab.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/letter_minister_fr.doc

For other ways to help, see:
http://www.justiceforhassandiab.org/help


Hassan Diab Support Committee
Email: diabsupport@gmail.com
Web: http://www.justiceforhassandiab.org
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/justiceforhassandiab
Twitter: http://twitter.com/justiceforhdiab
Blog: http://friendsofhassandiab.blogspot.com


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