Dr. Hassan Diab was wrongfully extradited from Canada to France in 2014, for alleged involvement in the Rue Copernic bombing in Paris in 1980. He spent more than three years in a French prison before investigative judges determined that there was no evidence linking him to the crime, and ordered his immediate and unconditional release.
While this captured a moment of pure joy, sadly it did not last long. The French prosecutor appealed the release decision for political reasons and Hassan remains under the threat of being extradited once again to France for a crime he did not commit.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau must honour his words on June 20, 2018, when he acknowledged that “this is something that obviously was an extremely difficult situation to go through for himself [Hassan], for his family” and promised to “make sure that it never happens again”.
Music credit: “Compassion” by Edoy / License:
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/