Since November 2024, there has been a concerted and malicious campaign against Dr. Hassan Diab, which has directly triggered hate mail and death threats against Hassan, his wife, and two children.

The Hassan Diab Support Committee, which has been active on Hassan Diab’s behalf for over sixteen years, has issued a Media Statement to provide the true fundamental facts which are being ignored or deliberately distorted by those who seek to scapegoat this innocent man.

The label “convicted synagogue bomber”, plastered on Dr. Diab’s identity, is a vilification resting on the verdict of an in absentia bogus trial at the Paris Special Assize Court in 2023. The trial was designed to convict Hassan Diab, and the verdict resulted from defamatory fabrications, secret “intelligence”, denial of exculpatory evidence, and perjury. It is important to note that during the trial, the two investigating judges (Jean-Marc Herbaut and Richard Foltzer), testified in Hassan’s defence, repeating their original conclusion that there was no basis for a conviction. The Special Assize Court ignored their findings and declared Hassan guilty.

The unjust French conviction was based on secret, unsourced, uncircumstanced and unreliable “intelligence” – inadmissible in the Canadian system of justice. Canada must not be party to this injustice and must state urgently and unequivocally that Hassan Diab will not be subjected to a second extradition.

Read the full Media statement.

A coordinated campaign of disinformation, harassment, and death threats is being levelled at Dr. Hassan Diab, demanding his termination from his teaching position at Carleton University, and his extradition to France for a crime he did not commit.

1. Take a minute to send a letter to the Carleton University administration and Board of Governors, urging them to not succumb to pressure and to protect Dr. Hassan Diab. He is an innocent man, wrongfully declared guilty in absentia in a sham French trial in April 2023.

2. Take a minute to send a letter to the Canadian Minister of Justice, Mr. Arif Virani, and the Canadian government, urging the Canadian government to protect Dr. Hassan Diab and refuse any second request for his extradition to France.
    
   Écrire une lettre au gouvernement canadien.

Interview on CBC Power & Politics, November 21, 2024

Watch Don Bayne, Hassan Diab’s lawyer, and supporter Roger Clark counter the disinformation campaign against Hassan:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XV2khYDo2o

Additional News and Support

• Article: “Advocates for Hassan Diab call on feds to declare extradition will not go ahead”, by Neil Moss, The Hill Times, November 27, 2024

• Senator Marilou McPhedran poses questions about the case of Dr. Hassan Diab during the October 9, 2024, session of the Senate of Canada

• Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) Canada writes to Canadian Minister of Justice, Mr. Arif Virani, October 15, 2024

• CUPE Local 4600 issues a statement supporting Hassan Diab, November 29, 2024

• International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group (ICLMG) reiterates its support for Hassan Diab, December 4, 2024

• Letter from MP Alistair MacGregor (NDP Critic for Justice and Public Safety) and MP Heather McPherson (NDP Critic for Foreign Affairs) to Ministers Mélanie Joly and Arif Virani, December 20, 2024

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On November 21, 2024, CBC “Power and Politics” host, David Cochrane, interviewed Don Bayne (Hassan Diab’s Canadian Lawyer) and Roger Clark (Representative of the Hassan Diab Support Committee).

The recent threats against Dr. Hassan Diab highlight the lack of knowledge about his case and a malicious misinformation campaign. The Canadian government’s silence since his wrongful “conviction” in absentia in 2023 has allowed criminal threats to surface and allowed public figures to misstate — either negligently or knowingly — the facts of Hassan’s case.

The Canadian Government must protect Hassan Diab and publicly state that it will not accept any request for Hassan Diab’s extradition to France (a second time) for a crime he did not commit.

Senator Marilou McPhedran posed the following questions:

“In 2014, Canadian citizen Dr. Hassan Diab was accused of terrorism, extradited to France, imprisoned there for over three years, until exonerated by French courts for lack of credible evidence. In 2023, he was retried in absentia by France on the same discredited evidence and sentenced to life in prison. Back here in Canada, he now may be facing a second extradition request. Outraged by this appalling treatment of Dr. Diab, some 4,000 Canadians recently signed a petition calling upon our government to deny any future extradition request and protect Dr. Diab’s rights. In its official response, the Federal government refused to confirm that Dr. Diab will be protected under Canadian law and shielded from any future extradition request. I remind you that Prime Minister Trudeau stated in 2011 that what happened to Dr. Diab never should have happened. How can the government justify this position?”

“The French and Canadian abuses in this shameful case have been well documented by legal scholars, the Department of Justice review, and the House of Commons Justice Committee. All have identified an unjust lack of transparency and disclosure in the current Extradition Act. Ignoring Canadian law in Dr. Diab’s case, exculpatory evidence long known to French and Canadian authorities was not disclosed. How can the government now commit to protecting Dr. Diab?”

Government Response to Parliamentary Petition e-4901

On June 12, 2024, Parliamentary petition e-4901 was presented to the Government of Canada. The petition calls upon the government 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”. More than 3,500 Canadians, from every province and territory, have signed the petition.

On August 21, 2024, the government issued its response, 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.”

This response is totally unacceptable and fails to even address the substance of the petition. The failure of the Canadian Government to acknowledge the pain it continues to inflict on Dr. Diab and on his family is an outrage. There have been cases where the Canadian Government has disclosed whether an extradition request has been made. So, it is misleading for the government to assert that it “cannot confirm or deny the existence of requests for extradition”. By hiding behind 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.

Open Letter to the Minister of Justice Arif Virani

On September 3, 2024, an Open Letter, signed by 117 leading lawyers and legal scholars in Canada, was submitted to the Minister of Justice, Arif Virani.

The letter urges Minister Virani “to give clear assurances that Dr. Hassan Diab will not be extradited a second time for a crime he did not commit” and calls on the government to implement all recommendations of the report, “Reforming Canada’s Extradition System” by the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights (JUST).”

A copy of the Open Letter submitted to Minister Virani is available at:

https://www.justiceforhassandiab.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Letter-to-Minister-Virani-re-Hassan-Diab-Signed-2024-09-03.pdf

Statements of Support for Dr. Hassan Diab

Letter from the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) to the Minister of Justice, Arif Virani (August 27, 2024):

“The Canadian Civil Liberties Association is writing to urge you to make a public commitment not to commit Dr. Hassan Diab, a Canadian citizen, to a second extradition to France. Every day that Dr. Diab and his family are left in limbo contributes to sustaining harms that have been endured. It is time to take a clear and public stance that Canada will not entertain a second extradition request by France…”

Read the full CCLA letter:
https://www.justiceforhassandiab.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/2024-08-27-CCLA-Letter-to-Justice-Minister-Virani.pdf

Statement from the Green Party of Canada (August 28, 2024):

“The Green Party of Canada expresses deep disappointment with the Government of Canada’s inadequate response to Petition e-4901, which seeks to address the ongoing injustices faced by Dr. Hassan Diab and his family. The government’s statement, which merely reiterates the confidentiality of extradition requests, fails to provide the meaningful response that Canadians deserve…”

Read the full Green Party statement:
https://www.greenparty.ca/en/media-release/2024-08-28/green-party-canada-stands-against-extradition-dr-hassan-diab

Please Spread the Word

Please spread the word about the Canadian Government’s inadequate response to Parliamentary petition e-4901, the Open Letter, and the need to take decisive action to protect Hassan.

Please share and repost the following social media posts:

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https://x.com/JusticeForHDiab/status/1830009777704890477
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Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/JusticeforHDiab/videos/1153433425749231
https://www.facebook.com/JusticeforHDiab/videos/1251584042525690

Thank you for your continued support!