MEDIA ADVISORY
For Immediate Release
On Thursday April 27, Mr. Don Bayne, Dr. Hassan Diab’s Canadian lawyer, and the Hassan Diab Support Committee will hold a press conference regarding the continued detention of Hassan in France despite the six release orders of the French investigative judges. Joining the press conference will be Tim McSorley, National Coordinator of the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group (ICLMG).
What: Press Conference Regarding the Case of Dr. Hassan Diab
Where: Charles Lynch Room, Centre Block, Parliament Hill, Ottawa, ON
When: Thursday April 27, 2017, 11:00 AM
Background:
On April 24, 2017, two French anti-terrorism investigative judges ordered again the release of Dr. Hassan Diab, the Canadian academic who was extradited from Canada to France in November 2014. The French judges found that there is “consistent evidence” that Dr. Diab was in Lebanon at the time of the 1980 Paris bombing. This is the sixth release order for Dr. Diab since last May, and the second release order within three weeks. The French Court of Appeal overturned all previous release orders. The prosecutor is appealing this latest release order. The hearing of the appeal is scheduled for this Friday afternoon.
William Bourdon, Apolline Cagnat, and Amélie Lefebvre, Dr. Diab’s lawyers in France, noted that “even though two weeks ago, the Court of Appeal overturned for the fifth time the decision to release Hassan Diab, the investigating judges have refused to renew Hassan’s expiring detention warrant. The investigating judges are firm on the fact that it is not possible in a state of law to continue to detain Hassan.”
Don Bayne, Dr. Diab’s Canadian lawyer, stated that “Dr. Diab’s continued incarceration is wholly and manifestly unjust. It is past time for this government to come to the aid of a Canadian citizen, to end this travesty of justice, to bring him home. ‘Prime Minister Trudeau, Minister Freeland, where are you when an innocent Canadian needs you?’ ”
Dr. Hassan Diab was extradited from Canada to France in November 2014, for investigation regarding the bombing of a Paris synagogue in 1980. The Canadian extradition judge described the evidence against Hassan as “illogical”, “very problematic”, and “convoluted”. However, the Canadian judge stated that the low threshold for evidence under Canada’s extradition law left him no choice but to commit Dr. Diab to extradition.
Roger Clark, the former Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada, remarked that “This travesty of justice continues solely for political reasons, there being no legal basis for Dr. Diab’s continuing imprisonment. Rather than acknowledge that an egregious error has been perpetrated, French authorities insist on maintaining their cruel charade against a background of widespread islamophobia and a fear of appearing weak on terrorism. Canada must immediately convey to the French Government the urgency of preventing further distortion of justice and of ensuring Hassan Diab’s speedy return to his home and family.”
For more information:
Hassan Diab Support Committee
diabsupport@gmail.com
http://www.justiceforhassandiab.org