Justice Minister Nicholson Must Refuse the Oppressive and Unfair Extradition of Hassan Diab!

Place: Department of Justice, 275 Sparks Street, Ottawa (at Sparks and Kent)

Time: Friday January 20, 2012, at Noon

Bring your signs, banners, and noise-makers!

On Friday January 20, join Hassan Diab’s supporters to deliver a petition to Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, signed by over 500 organizations and individuals, demanding that he refuse the extradition of Hassan Diab. Under extradition law, Mr. Nicholson has the discretion to stop extradition proceedings at any point. Moreover, the law obliges Mr. Nicholson to refuse to order an “unjust and oppressive” extradition.

Extraditing Hassan to stand trial in France would be manifestly unjust and oppressive. The allegations against Hassan are based on deeply flawed handwriting analysis and secret intelligence from unknown sources that is replete with major misrepresentations, inaccuracies, and contradictions. Evidence showing Hassan’s innocence (including finger prints and palm prints) was suppressed. An Ontario court which examined the case against Hassan concluded that it was “very problematic”, “very confusing”, “very convoluted” and drew “suspect conclusions”. The court noted that “the prospects of conviction in the context of a fair trial seem unlikely”. Yet it is on the basis of this “weak” case that Hassan was arrested, has spent over three years in prison or under intrusive conditions, and on which Mr. Nicholson is now considering handing him over to France.

Despite its strong doubts about the case, the Ontario court refused to allow Hassan to meaningfully challenge the evidence, claiming that he would have a chance to do so in France. In fact, even if it were justified to imprison and then turn someone over to a foreign state on the basis of such flimsy evidence (and it clearly is not), it is doubtful that Hassan would have a fair trial under France’s anti-terrorism laws, which Human Rights Watch has denounced for its multiple violations of international human rights standards.

Join us on January 20 to call on Minister Nicholson to:

• Exercise his discretionary power to immediately halt extradition proceedings against Hassan Diab, and act on his legal obligation to refuse unjust and oppressive extraditions;
• Refuse extradition to states that use secret, unsourced intelligence or information that may have been derived from torture as evidence; and
• Reform extradition law to take into account Canada’s human rights obligations, including the presumption of innocence, the right to a fair trial, the right to disclosure of evidence, and all other due process rights.

If you haven’t done so already, please sign the petition at http://stopextradition.diabpetition.org, and encourage others you know to do so as well, BEFORE January 18.

For more information, contact:
Hassan Diab Support Committee
diabsupport@gmail.com
http://www.justiceforhassandiab.org