The Hassan Diab Support Committee and Octopus Books invite you to a screening of the short documentary “Rubber Stamped: The Hassan Diab Story”, followed by a panel discussion with Carleton University professors Maeve McMahon and Peter Gose, together with Roger Clark, former secretary general of Amnesty International Canada.
What: “Rubber Stamped: The Hassan Diab Story”, followed by a panel discussion
When: Thursday September 14, 2017, 7:00 PM
Where: The Lieutenant’s Pump, 361 Elgin Street (at Waverly), Ottawa, Canada — Map
This is an all ages event. Free and open to the public. The space is wheelchair accessible.
Background:
Dr. Hassan Diab is a Canadian citizen and sociology professor who taught at Carleton University and the University of Ottawa. He was extradited to France on November 14, 2014, in connection with the 1980 rue Copernic synagogue bombing in Paris.
The Canadian extradition judge described the evidence in the case as “very problematic”, “illogical”, and “suspect”, and stated that “the prospects of conviction in the context of a fair trial seem unlikely”. However, the judge felt obliged under Canada’s extradition law to commit Hassan to extradition.
Since his extradition over 1,000 days ago, Hassan has been locked up in a French prison cell, 20 hours a day, deprived of his freedom and torn from his family and home in Canada.
The French judge investigating the case found “consistent evidence” supporting Hassan’s innocence, and concluded that Hassan was not in France at the time of the 1980 bombing. Hassan was ordered released on bail six times. However, each time the French prosecutor appealed and the Court of Appeal overturned the release order.
To this day, Hassan remains locked up in prison and faces the prospect of wrongful conviction under France’s anti-terrorism laws.