A former Carleton professor accused of terrorism by French authorities is fighting extradition charges in a hearing that began Nov. 8.
Hassan Diab, 56, has been accused of involvement in the 1980 bombing of a French synagogue which left four dead and as many as 40 wounded. The bombing was blamed on the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, according to the CBC.
Diab is one of five accused with building the explosive and leaving it to detonate outside the synagogue.
Originally of Lebanese descent, Diab received Canadian citizenship in 1993 and moved to Ottawa in 2006. He was arrested in November 2008.
“I am innocent of the charges against me,” Diab said in a statement to the court. “I condemn all ethnically, racially, and religiously motivated violence.”
The former professor at the University of Ottawa and associate professor of sociology at Carleton was dropped from both universities following his arrest, according to CTV.
In a testimonial written shortly after Diab’s arrest, Peter Gose, Carleton’s chairperson of the department of sociology, expressed his shock at that accusation.
“I strongly believe that this is an instance of mistaken identity,” Gose said.
Donald Bayne, lawyer for Diab, said it’s an issue of misrepresentation of the evidence.
The extradition hearing began Nov. 8 after being delayed twice before. The question now is whether there is enough evidence to justify extradition.
The case has faced numerous hang-ups. Delays have been blamed on evidence inaccuracies from the French, much to the dismay of Diab’s supporters, Bayne said.
“I think there’s nobody here who wants to deny what happened in France in the ‘80s and doesn’t have sympathy for the victims of that, but if you’re going to go around and accuse somebody of it, you do it openly based on the basis of source evidence and that does not appear to be the case,” said Bill Clennet, a Diab supporter.
Donald Pratt, a long-time friend of Diab’s from university and an active member of the Hassan Diab Support Committee, said he’s hoping for the best but that he knows it’s an “uphill battle.”
Pratt said he believes France is abusing the extradition process.
“I am calling France on its conduct,” Bayne agreed. “You bet I am.”
The hearing is scheduled to run until Dec. 3, at which point Diab said he hopes his ordeal will be over.
In Canada, there have only been five instances in which requested extraditions were not carried out, Pratt said.
According to Pratt, in those five instances there were only minor misrepresentations of the evidence, but in Diab’s case there are many.
“The record is replete with abuses so it could be the worst example we’ve ever seen,” he said.
For now, Diab must report to the RCMP every week, wear a GPS ankle bracelet and stay within the Ottawa area, but he remains optimistic, Pratt said.
“I hope this extradition hearing will end the witch-hunt atmosphere I have been living under for the past three years and that no one else will have to endure the burden of false, unfounded accusations.”
— with files from Mitch Vandenborn
and Chris Herhalt