November 3, 2019
Dear Friends and Supporters,
Canada’s Extradition Act is in urgent need of reform. A recent “external review” of Dr. Hassan Diab’s extradition commissioned by the Minister of Justice does nothing to prevent future injustices like those suffered by Hassan. But we are not giving up!
1) Please write to Prime Minister Trudeau to demand an independent public inquiry into the extradition case of Hassan, and reform of Canada’s Extradition Act. You can send a message to Mr. Trudeau from the following web page:
Your message can have more impact if you personalise the letter to give it a personal touch.
2) Also, on Thursday November 7 or Friday November 8, please call PM Trudeau’s office at (613) 992-4211, and reiterate your message.
For more information:
- Letter from Amnesty Canada and British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) to party leaders
- International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group (ICLMG) webcomic about Dr. Hassan Diab’s quest for justice
Background:
Hassan Diab is thankfully free and back in Canada, but justice hasn’t been served. Hassan deserves answers and we need to change Canada’s broken Extradition Act so no one else suffers as he did!
Hassan was wrongfully extradited to France in 2014, based on illogical, problematic, and confusing evidence. He spent more than three years in prison in France, without charge or trial, often in solitary confinement. In 2018, French investigating judges ordered Hassan’s release after they found there is consistent evidence that he was not in France at the time of the 1980 bombing in Paris.
A recent “external review” of Hassan’s extradition, commissioned by the Minister of Justice, has amounted to a whitewash. It presents only weak recommendations that will do nothing to prevent future wrongful extraditions.
Donald Bayne, Hassan Diab’s lawyer, remarked: “The external review basically says nothing wrong was done by anybody. If Canadian prosecutors and the justice system all got it so right, why then did Hassan languish in solitary confinement over three years, an innocent Canadian in a French jail? The standards we are using are clearly wrong. Anything goes in an extradition, and you can’t defend yourself. This will happen again.”
Please contact PM Trudeau now, so your message will reach Mr. Trudeau just as he is preparing the mandate for the next Minister of Justice. It is expected that the new slate of Ministers will be announced on November 20.
Thank you for your continued support!
Ria Heynen
for the Justice for Hassan Diab Support Committee
Web: http://www.justiceforhassandiab.org
Email: diabsupport@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/justiceforhassandiab
Twitter: https://twitter.com/justiceforhdiab
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