NDP calls for Liberals to block extradition of Dr. Hassan Diab

OTTAWA – NDP Justice critic Randall Garrison and Foreign Affairs critic Heather McPherson are calling on the Liberal government to block the extradition of Dr. Hassan Diab. On Friday, following more than a decade of being denied a fair process and having his rights violated, a French court sentenced Diab to life in prison in his absence.

“New Democrats condemn the appalling 1980 terrorist attack on a synagogue in France, and we express our deepest sympathies with the victims and their families who are still seeking justice. They deserve concrete answers,” said McPherson. “But this entire trial has been a sham. Dr. Diab has lived through a nightmare for the last decade and unjustly spent three years in a French prison under tortuous conditions.”

After the Harper government helped France extradite him based on faulty evidence, Dr. Diab was placed in maximum-security prison in 2014 and subject to solitary confinement, all without a trial. After dropping the charges against Diab in 2018 for lack of evidence, France restarted the process and now, the French courts have found him guilty without him being present to defend himself, and they’ve given him no opportunity to appeal.

“Everyone deserves the right to a fair trial,” said Garrison. “The horrible conditions Dr. Diab suffered over flimsy and discredited evidence violated his rights and poisoned the process. Given that no justice has been served, New Democrats are demanding the government block any attempts by France to extradite Dr. Diab.”