A Very Canadian Railroad

Hassan Diab: A Very Canadian Railroad
By Dr. Dawg, July 5, 2013

“Hassan Diab is in the news again. He’s a Canadian citizen whom the Conservative Minister of Justice, Rob Nicholson, wants to extradite to France to face—what, exactly?

Widely reported as being a suspect in the bombing of a Paris synagogue over forty years ago, Diab isn’t even facing charges there, as it turns out.

But here in his own country, Diab has faced a massive railroading by the judicial system, including prosecutorial and even judicial bias.

Despite bland assurances to the contrary, the French judicial system isn’t like ours. For example, a key piece of evidence is a handwriting exhibit. A grossly incompetent “expert” in France, whose testimony was produced at the very last minute after the evidence of two others was demolished by the defence, identified the writing as Diab’s. This was refuted during the extradition hearing in 2011 by handwriting experts of international stature. But in France, these experts would not be permitted to be called by the defence as rebuttal witnesses. The examining magistrate, who gets to decide what witnesses will be heard, had already withheld exculpatory evidence from the Record of Case that was sent to Canada for extradition purposes. None of this is exactly reassuring for those of us who value the presumption of innocence, impartial procedures and full disclosure.

Not that a trial, fair or otherwise, is in the cards at the moment. As noted, Diab hasn’t even been charged with anything...”

Read the full blog at:

http://drdawgsblawg.ca/2013/07/hassan-diab-and-a-very-canadian-railroad.shtml