Canada Must Put an End to This
Miscarriage of Justice!

Canada must refuse any potential second extradition of Dr. Hassan Diab

Six years ago, on 14 January 2018, Hassan Diab returned to Canada. He had spent thirty- eight months in the French maximum security prison of Fleury-Mérogis just outside Paris. For most of that time, Dr. Diab was held in solitary confinement for up to twenty-two hours a day. He was never formally charged nor tried in court.

On Friday, 12 January 2018, Jean-Marc Herbaut and Richard Foltzer, the two senior anti- terrorist investigation judges responsible for Dr. Diab’s case, signed their 72-page ‘Order of Dismissal’ decision (Ordonnance de non-lieu). They had determined that there was no evidence to justify bringing Dr. Diab to trial and ordered his immediate, unconditional release. This concluded thirty-eight years of investigation into the 1980 rue Copernic bombing.

Dr. Diab’s French lawyers, William Bourdon, Apolline Cagnat, and Amélie Lefebvre, stated that “this decision is exceptional […] in French judicial history. It is based on clear evidence that there is no possibility of attributing to Hassan Diab any responsibility in the attack.”

With the active support of Global Affairs Canada (Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland) and Canadian Embassy officials in Paris, Dr. Diab was able to fly back to Ottawa on 14 January 2018. He was welcomed at the airport in the early hours of the morning by his wife and children, together with many of his local supporters.

The sense of relief and the hope that justice was finally being done, were to be short-lived. The French Prosecutor appealed against Dr. Diab’s release. Pressure from victims’ advocacy groups, aligned with ultra-conservative political opinion, and the compulsion to identify the individual(s) responsible for the 1980 explosion, all combined in the scapegoating of Dr. Diab. The French Court of Appeal, after multiple delays, rendered its opinion on 27 January 2021, effectively dismissing the Ordonnance de non-lieu and ordering that Dr. Diab stand trial.

Dr. Diab’s Canadian lawyer, Donald Bayne, carried out a detailed analysis of the Court of Appeal decision: (https://www.justiceforhassandiab.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/DIAB-Memo-France-COA-2021-05-05.pdf). Donald Bayne concludes: “The serious multiple errors of fact, reliance on evidence so unreliable it should be disregarded, misstatement of its own mandated handwriting report, resort to sheer speculation in an effort to explain away “essential elements” of exculpatory fingerprint and consistent alibi evidence, willful ignorance of the actual evidence and imposition on Hassan Diab of an impossible onus to prove absolute innocence “indisputably” demonstrate that the decision of the French Court of Appeal to set aside the Investigation Judges’ Order of Dismissal and order that Hassan Diab be put on trial in France is an unjust decision and one that perpetuates over a decade-long miscarriage of justice.”

Dr. Diab was tried in absentia in April 2023. Although the Investigation Judges (Jean-Marc Herbaut and Richard Foltzer) testified that there was no valid basis for a conviction, the Special Assize Court in Paris sentenced Dr. Diab to life imprisonment and ordered his arrest. “The unjust French conviction was based on secret, unsourced, uncircumstanced and unreliable ‘intelligence’ – inadmissible in our system of justice. Canada should not be party to this injustice.” (Donald Bayne)

Dr. Diab and his family live a stressful life in limbo, not knowing when or if a further unjust process might be commenced against him. Prime Minister Trudeau must honour his words in June 2018, when he acknowledged that “this is something that obviously was an extremely difficult situation to go through for himself, for his family” and promised to “make sure that this never happens again”.

Canada must prevent further miscarriage of justice and refuse any potential second extradition of Dr. Hassan Diab!

Read the full media notice (in English and French):
https://www.justiceforhassandiab.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Diab-media-notice-2023-12-12-EN-FR.pdf

15 Years of Injustice: How Much More Must Hassan Diab Endure?

November 13 2023, marks 15 years since Dr. Hassan Diab was arrested by the RCMP at the request of France. Since that day, Hassan and his family have yet to experience lasting justice and true freedom.

After his arrest in Canada in 2008, Hassan was jailed in Ottawa, subjected to an extradition hearing, and extradited to France in November 2014, where he spent over three years in near solitary confinement. He was released from prison and returned to Canada in January 2018 after two French investigative judges, who thoroughly investigated the case, dismissed all the allegations against him. However, due to political pressure, the he was subjected him to a sham trial in absentia in April of this year. The politicised French court declared Hassan guilty and issued a warrant for his arrest. Since then, Dr. Diab and his family have lived in fear that he will be extradited once again for a crime he did not commit.

Read the article: “The 15-Year Ordeal of Hassan Diab”, by Paul Leduc Browne

On this shameful 15th anniversary, we ask supporters to urge the government of Canada to DECLARE THAT HASSAN DIAB WILL NOT BE EXTRADITED A SECOND TIME.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Send a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urging him to give immediate assurances that Canada will not accept nor accede to a second extradition request and reform Canada’s extradition law.

Letter in English: https://iclmg.ca/diab-letter

Lettre en français: https://iclmg.ca/fr/lettre-diab

(It’s okay to send the letter again even if you’ve done so before).

Thank you for your continued support!

Urgent Action:
Phone Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Urge PM Trudeau to protect Dr. Hassan Diab and refuse any request from France for Hassan’s extradition!

Prime Minister Trudeau’s Phone Numbers:

  • Hill Office – House of Commons: 1 (613) 992-4211
  • Constituency Office – Riding of Papineau, Montreal, Quebec (call this number if you live in the riding): 1 (514) 277-6020

Key messages for Prime Minister Trudeau:

  • Protect Hassan Diab from further injustice. Say No to any request for Hassan’s extradition.
  • I am very concerned that France is scapegoating Hassan Diab for a crime he did not commit.
  • France has convicted the wrong person—and they know it.
  • The Canadian government has a moral obligation to protect its citizens from persecution.
  • Hassan and his family have suffered this injustice for 15 years.
  • Mr. Trudeau, numerous civil society and human rights organizations have called on you to say No to a second extradition request from France.
  • Mr. Trudeau, honour the words you spoke in 2018: “What happened to Hassan Diab never should have happened”, and make sure that it never happens again.
  • Two experienced French investigative judges (Herbaut and Foltzer) carried out an extensive investigation and determined that the case should not go to trial.
  • The French court which convicted Hassan Diab in April 2023, used secret intelligence as evidence. Relying on secret intelligence is unconstitutional and not allowed in Canadian court; it violates the right to know the case against you and the right to a fair trial.

Thank you for your support!

Public Lecture, Carleton University, Ottawa
October 19, 2023, 12 – 1 pm

You are invited to a Zoom webinar:

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

You can also attend in person (Tory Building, Room 360, Carelton University, Ottawa). Here is the poster for the event.

Urgent Action: Phone Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on October 17, 2023

Please phone PM Trudeau and urge him to protect Dr. Hassan Diab and refuse any request from France for Hassan’s extradition!

Prime Minister Trudeau’s Phone Numbers:

  • Hill Office – House of Commons: 1 (613) 992-4211
  • Constituency Office – Riding of Papineau, Montreal, Quebec (call this number if you live in the riding): 1 (514) 277-6020

Key messages for Prime Minister Trudeau:

  • Protect Hassan Diab from further injustice. Say No to any request for Hassan’s extradition.
  • I am very concerned that France is scapegoating Hassan Diab for a crime he did not commit.
  • France has convicted the wrong person—and they know it.
  • The Canadian government has a moral obligation to protect its citizens from persecution.
  • Hassan and his family have suffered this injustice for 15 years.
  • Mr. Trudeau, numerous civil society and human rights organizations have called on you to say No to a second extradition request from France.
  • Mr. Trudeau, honour the words you spoke in 2018: “What happened to Hassan Diab never should have happened”, and make sure that it never happens again.
  • Two experienced French investigative judges (Herbaut and Foltzer) carried out an extensive investigation and determined that the case should not go to trial.
  • The French court which convicted Hassan Diab in April 2023, used secret intelligence as evidence. Relying on secret intelligence is unconstitutional and not allowed in Canadian court; it violates the right to know the case against you and the right to a fair trial.

Thank you for your support!