The Daily Populous Monday November 4th, 2024 night edition
Authored by ynetnews.com and submitted by alsonotjohnmalkovich

Dr. Hassan Diab, a Lebanese terrorist with Canadian citizenship, who was convicted in a French court and sentenced to life imprisonment for his involvement in a terrorist attack on a synagogue in Paris 44 years ago, accepted a teaching position at a prestigious university in Canada and will lecture on "social justice in action."

The attack took place on Friday, October 3, 1980, when a bomb planted in the side bag of a motorcycle exploded outside the entrance to the Rue Copernic synagogue, a Reform synagogue in the prestigious 16th arrondissement of Paris. Israeli television presenter Aliza Shagrir and three other bystanders were killed in the attack. Another 20 people were injured.

4 View gallery Dr. Hassan Diab was convicted in absentia of a terror attack on a Paris synagogue that killed 4 ( Photo: AFP )

Diab, who was the main suspect in the attack, fled to Canada. An indictment was filed against him, in which it was alleged that he was behind the deadly attack. Diab was arrested in 2008 in Canada at the request of the French authorities and for six years waged a legal battle against his extradition to France. He denied any connection to the attack and claimed that the French authorities, who maintain that he worked in the ranks of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, are confusing him with another person.

In 2014 Diab was extradited to France, but after two years, following a legal battle, an investigating judge ordered his release to house arrest and he fled to Canada the same day. An appeal was then filed and a trial was held in absentia; The court, composed of six judges, some of whom specialize in terrorism, unanimously ruled that he was guilty and sentenced him to life imprisonment. At the same time, an international arrest warrant was issued against him.

For the first time since his conviction and although he is facing a life sentence for a terrorist attack in which four people were murdered, Carleton University in Ottawa decided to bring him back to the academic institution and he will teach this year as a lecturer in sociology.

4 View gallery Aliza Shagrir, victim of Paris synagogue bombing

Aliza Shagrir's sons, Hagai and Oron Shagrir, say that reinstating Diab as a lecturer at the university is "outrageous."

"It is outrageous that an academic institution that is supposed to promote values ​​of equality and justice decided to employ a cold-blooded murderer, who was unanimously convicted in a court in France. Apparently carrying out a murderous terrorist act against a Jewish target does not go against the values ​​of Carleton University," they said in a statement.

Israeli consul general in Toronto, Idit Shamir, in a post on her X account called the university's decision "unconscionable."

"Hassan Diab, the terrorist who murdered my friend’s mother, Aliza Shagrir, before his eyes in the 1980 Paris synagogue bombing still lectures at Canada’s @Carleton_U. A French court gave him LIFE for murdering 4 souls & maiming 46. Yet Carlton University rewards him with a teaching position? Every class this convicted terrorist teaches dishonors the lives he destroyed. This isn't just a failure of justice - it's spitting on the graves of Jewish victims. Shame on those who enable this," she posted.

4 View gallery Yediot Aharanot report on Paris attack ( Photo: Yediot Aharonot archives )

Bnai Brith Canada reacted angrily, saying: "Despite being handed a life sentence by a French court, Hassan Diab continues to live freely in Canada, while Carleton University, unconscionably, continues to allow him the privilege of teaching at a Canadian Institution.​ As Canadians, we cannot stand by while a convicted terrorist, affiliated with a listed terrorist group, teaches on our campuses!​ The university has ignored B’nai Brith’s formal request to terminate his position, allowing Diab to remain in a position of authority over students." ​

4 View gallery Entrance to Carelton University ( Photo: Shutterstock )

Bnai Brith started signing a petition demanding the immediate dismissal of the convicted terrorist. a danger to the well-being of its students, but it is an insult to the memory of the innocent victims of his heinous crime and an affront to all Canadians who value law and order," the organization said.

Bnai Brith is circulating a petition demanding the immediate dismissal of the convicted terrorist.

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broden89 on November 3rd, 2024 at 20:10 UTC »

For anyone wondering about the legal complexities of this case, Diab was not actually implicated in the Copernic attack until 1999, 19 years after it took place, because he matched a description/police sketch. There was also a hotel registration form with handwriting similar to his, which has been analysed by multiple experts and different conclusions reached.

He was arrested in Canada in 2008 and extradited to France in 2014, and spent several more years in jail awaiting trial.

The article linked in this post appears to get some of the legal timeline incorrect - Diab didn't flee house arrest and go back to Canada; a French judge dismissed the charges against him in 2018. He was free to return to Canada according to CBC reporting.

The dismissal of charges was overturned in 2021; there was no international arrest warrant issued at the time per the New York Times and Diab was tried in absentia by a different French court. The case hinged on Diab's passport, which was seized in Rome in 1981 with a member of the PFPLO and showed entry and exit stamps for Spain, where the Copernic terrorists were believed to have fled. Diab had always maintained his innocence and that his passport was lost, and provided an alibi that he was sitting university exams in Beirut at the time of the bombing. The judge who dismissed the charges in 2018 found there was "consistent evidence" Diab was in Lebanon at the time of the Paris bombing.

There was also some exculpatory evidence - palm prints taken from a vehicle used in the bombing were not a match for Diab, and neither were fingerprints taken from an arrest record for "Alexander Panadriyu" - the alias believed to be used for the Copernic bomber, per the Canadian Department of Justice - this link provides a timeline of the case up to 2018/19.

So essentially, Canada is in the position of having already extradited a citizen once, that person having charges dismissed and being allowed to return, and essentially then being asked to extradite a second time (with no new evidence introduced in the case). Even more complicated is that Diab cannot appeal the conviction and life sentence in France because he was tried in absentia.

nixnaij on November 3rd, 2024 at 19:23 UTC »

For a little bit of background info.

France requested extradition in 2008 for the 1980 bombing Was extradited to France in 2014 Case was dismissed in 2018 after a judge found a lack of evidence Hassan returned to Canada in 2018 In 2021 an appeal reversed the dismissal decision In 2023 Hassan was convicted in abstentia

The evidence against Hassan are the following - Witness sketch that resembles Hassan - Hotel registration with handwriting that resembles Hassan’s - A passport with Hassan’s name was discovered in the possession of another terrorist

Hassan’s defense - Fingerprint evidence that exculpated him was not admitted into evidence - He claims he was at a University in Lebanon when the attacks happened - The consensus of handwriting experts were inconclusive and that French authorities attempted to cherry pick favorable handwriting experts in order to get a conviction

Big_Schedule3544 on November 3rd, 2024 at 17:33 UTC »

"will lecture on "social justice in action." "

Ummm...