The following letter was submitted to the Ottawa Citizen in response to a letter questioning Dr. Hassan's Diab's right to challenge his extradition.Here's a link to the original news article that appeared in the Ottawa Citizen: Human rights groups sound alarm over Diab extradition evidence
We are appalled by the innuendos in Ron Grossman’s published letter (July 5, 2013 in the Ottawa Citizen) suggesting that if Hassan Diab were truly innocent, he should have no problems within the French judicial system. Ron Grossman appears unaware of the many irregularities in Hassan Diab’s case on both the Canadian and French side: the flawed evidence based on questionable handwriting analysis that would never stand up in a Canadian court, the highly political nature of the decision about extradition, the likely possibility that Hassan Diab would not have a fair trial in France.
We are acquainted with Hassan Diab and testify to his decency, integrity, his knowledge. This case is all the more inexcusable as it parallels the infamous Dreyfus case at the turn of the twentieth century – the case of a Jewish man falsely accused of treason, coincidentally based on flawed handwriting analysis, the case that showed the deep roots of anti-Semitism in France. Hassan Diab’s case shows deep roots of racism here – this time it is against Arab and Muslim people. A decision to indeed extradite Hassan Diab is a manifestation of a deep divide in the current Canadian government between law and justice.
Reem Abdul Qadir
Elizabeth Block
James Deutsch
Judith Deutsch
Miriam Garfinkle
Sue Goldstein
James Javanshir
Sheryl Nestel
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