Hassan Diab’s supporters urge Canada to rebuff extradition after guilty verdict

OTTAWA –

Supporters of Hassan Diab are calling on Canada to refuse any new extradition request from France after a court found the Ottawa sociology professor guilty of a 1980 bombing.

Diab, who has always maintained innocence, was tried in absentia in Paris for the attack on a synagogue that killed four and wounded 46.

A French court sentenced Diab to life in prison today and issued an arrest warrant for him.

A supporter speaks with Hassan Diab at a vigil in Ottawa, Friday, April 21, 2023. Supporters of Diab are calling on Canada to refuse any new extradition request from France after a court found the Ottawa sociology professor guilty of a 1980 bombing. (Adrian Wyld/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Following lengthy proceedings that went all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, Diab was extradited to France where he spent three years behind bars, including time in solitary confinement.

French judges dismissed the allegations against him in January 2018 and ordered his immediate release, allowing him to return to Ottawa where he lives with his wife and children.

In May 2021, a French court upheld a decision directing Diab to stand trial, a ruling his Canadian lawyer called inexplicable.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 21, 2023.