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

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?”