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Hassan Diab's case highlights the injustice of Canada’s Extradition Law and should be of concern to everyone. The issue was widely covered in the media, including the following:
- Hassan Diab Press Conference, Ottawa, June 6, 2011
- CBC Radio interview with Hassan’s lawyer, Mr. Don Bayne, conducted by Alan Neal of “All in a Day”, June 6, 2011
- The Complex Case of Hassan Diab, by Chris Cobb, Ottawa Citizen, June 10, 2011
- Why the Diab case should worry all Canadians, by Randal Marlin, Ottawa Citizen, June 16, 2011
- Canada’s Extradition Law: The Least Fair Act on Earth?, by Gary Botting, Prism Magazine, June 17, 2011
Please take the time to send a brief letter to the Editor in support of Hassan Diab.
On Wednesday May 25, Hassan Diab's lawyer asked the extradition judge to take into account a recent ruling by the Ontario Court of appeal, and allow the introduction of additional handwriting reports to demonstrate (once again!) the total unreliability of France's handwriting evidence. Several French handwriting experts are willing to testify that the methodology and conclusions of the handwriting evidence are totally flawed.
Read Ottawa Citizen coverage of Wednesday's hearing.
This morning, the judge denied the lawyer’s request. A decision on whether to "commit" Hassan for extradition (basically, the first step in shipping Hassan overseas, which involves imprisonment) will be issued on June 6th.
Read Ottawa Citizen coverage of today’s decision
Please write letters to the Editor expressing your concern about the extradition process and your support for Hassan Diab.
In your letters, you can raise one or more of the following points:
- As Hassan's case shows, the standard of evidence for extraditing Canadian citizens does not come near to meeting standards for a fair trial.
- It is very alarming that Hassan's extradition may be allowed to proceed SOLELY on the basis of handwriting analysis that the judge himself has said is “very problematic, very confusing, and with conclusions that are suspect".
It is unacceptable that France based its original extradition request on completely unsourced and secret intelligence that may be the product of torture.
- It is unacceptable that France has withheld information favourable to Hassan from the judge, such as the fact that Hassan’s palm prints and fingerprints do not match those of the suspect.
- Letters must be very short (100 words or less); include name, postal address and daytime phone number of the writer; state "Letter to the Editor" in the Subject line; and content should be in the body of the email (i.e. do not send as an attachment).
Email addresses are provided below:
Globe and Mail: letters@globeandmail.com
National Post: letters@nationalpost.com
Ottawa Citizen: letters@thecitizen.canwest.com
Ottawa Sun: ottsun.oped@sunmedia.ca
Hill Times (Federal Parliament): news@hilltimes.com
Thanks for your continued support.
Hassan Diab Support Committee
http://www.justiceforhassandiab.org
diabsupport@gmail.com
We urge you to take a stand for the principles of fundamental justice and for the presumption of innocence in the case of Dr. Hassan Diab by signing the petition at:
http://stopextradition.diabpetition.org/
As you may recall, Dr. Diab is a Canadian citizen and sociology professor who lives in Ottawa. He is fighting extradition to France where he is accused of involvement in a bombing near a Paris synagogue in 1980. The allegations are based on deeply flawed handwriting analysis and secret "intelligence" that has not been disclosed to Hassan's defence or the Canadian judge.
On June 6, 2011, a decision is expected regarding whether Dr. Diab will be committed for extradition. If committed, a judge will decide whether Hassan remains on bail or is put in jail while he appeals his extradition in the Canadian courts, a process that could take several years.
We urge you add your name to the petition asking the judge to renew Hassan’s bail while he is appealing his extradition.
Since his release from detention on April 1st, 2009, Hassan has dutifully abided by all the terms of his bail, and has not committed a single infraction.
This petition is not a declaration of guilt or innocence. Rather, it is an attempt to uphold the principle of innocent until proven otherwise, and the right for Hassan to be free on bail while defending himself in the courts.
Finally, please help us spread the word by sharing this appeal and the petition widely.
Thank you in advance for your prompt attention to this urgent matter.
Hassan Diab Support Committee
diabsupport@gmail.com
http://www.justiceforhassandiab.org
Join us for an event in Toronto highlighting the injustices in Canada's extradition law.
Kafka in the Court: Hassan Diab v. Canada's Unjust Extradition Law
Where: Steelworkers Hall, 25 Cecil Street, Toronto
When: Thursday, May 19, 7:15 PM
SPEAKERS
- Rania Tfaily, sociology professor, Carleton University; wife of Hassan Diab
- Jessica Orkin, criminal justice lawyer, with an emphasis on constitutional law and human rights; appears before the Supreme Court
- Matthew Behrens, Campaign to Stop Secret Trials in Canada
SPONSORED BY
- Toronto Action for Social Change
- Christian Peacemaker Teams
- Canadian Arab Federation
For further information about this event, contact: tasc@web.ca
Hassan Diab is a Canadian facing unjust extradition proceedings – which could see him forcibly removed to France - based on deeply flawed “evidence”. He has always maintained his innocence and condemns all ethnically and religiously motivated violence. Canada’s unfair Extradition Law allows Canadians to be shipped to foreign countries based on flimsy, unreliable evidence not accepted in domestic Canadian trials.
In Hassan's case, Canadian Extradition Law has:
- Allowed deeply flawed handwriting analysis as evidence, despite the Canadian judge finding it "very problematic, very confusing, and with conclusions that are suspect".
- Allowed the authorities to proceed despite the fact that Hassan's physical description and his finger and palm prints do not match those of the suspect.
- Allowed the case to go forward despite numerous serious contradictions and misrepresentations, and despite reliance on secret intelligence in the Record of the Case.
We all have a stake in supporting Hassan in his pursuit of justice. Canada’s shockingly low standard for extraditing its citizens is a threat to the principles of fairness and fundamental justice, and could be used against any of us.
For more information about Hassan's case, read the article on rabble.ca: http://rabble.ca/news/2010/11/ottawa-professor-fights-extradition-1980-bomb-attack-france
For additional information, visit: http://www.justiceforhassandiab.org
Date: Samedi le 16 avril 2011 de 16h30 à 20h30
Au: Mosaic Carling Buffet, 2583 Avenue Carling, Ottawa
Le souper bénéfice est une activité pour supporter le Dr. Hassan Diab, Canadien d’origine libanaise et professeur de sociologie faisant face à des procédures d’extradition injustes. L’injuste loi canadienne d’extradition permet que des Canadiens et des Canadiennes soient envoyé.es vers des pays étrangers sur la base de preuves peu solides et peu fiables qui ne sont pas acceptées par les tribunaux canadiens. Nous sommes tous et toutes concernées par la poursuite de la justice menée par le Dr. Diab.
Les billets pour le souper bénéfice sont de 20$ par personne et de 60$ par famille. Les prix incluent le buffet à volonté du Mosaic.
Les billets sont disponibles en pré-vente à Ottawa. Vous pouvez trouver un point de vente ici.
You are invited to a fundraising dinner in support of Hassan Diab. Click here for a flyer for the event.
When: Saturday, April 16, 2011, 4:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Where: Mosaic Carling Buffet, 2583 Carling Avenue, Ottawa
Dinner tickets are $20 per person or $60 per family. This includes Mosaic’s ALL YOU CAN EAT BUFFET.
You can purchase fundraising dinner tickets in three ways:- Send e-money transfer, $20 for each single ticket or $60 for a family pass, to diabsupport@gmail.com. Include your name with the money transfer. Your tickets will be available for pickup at the event.
- Or visit one of the following stores to purchase tickets directly:
- New Middle East Supermarket, 1755 Bank St, Ottawa, Tel (613) 526-3423
- Al Sham Food and Meat Market, 4000 Bridal Path, Ottawa, Tel (613) 745-2477
- Sultan Supermarket, 2446 Bank St., Ottawa, Tel (613) 736-1600
- Guardian / Hunt Club Pharmacy (Contact: Solly Saloojee), 2430 Bank St, Ottawa, Tel (613) 521-7955
- Malak Pastry (Contact: Abou-Rabeih), 1216 Bank St, Ottawa, Tel (613) 526-2002
- Aladdin Bakery (Contact: Samera Ghadban-Farhat), 1801 Carling Ave., Ottawa, Tel (613) 728-5331
- Damas Supermarket, 3033 Carling Ave, Ottawa, Tel (613) 726-1792
- Or call (613) 686-5599, and make arrangements for ticket pickup.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers wrote a letter to the Canadian Minister of Justice, Mr. Robert Nicholson, concerning Dr. Hassan Diab’s extradition case.
http://www.justiceforhassandiab.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/CUPW_to_Nicholson_Mar2011.pdf
“... Recently, the court refused to exclude “very problematic” and “very confusing” handwriting evidence against Dr. Diab, saying that Canadian standards of evidence do not apply in an extradition case.
The court also refused to admit finger and palm print evidence. The court dismissed it as “competing inference” – which is not allowed in an extradition case.
CUPW believes that in any extradition case, the court must ensure there is sufficient and reliable evidence to support the request...”
By Rachel Anjorin
Amidst all the legal hullaballoo of the Hassan Diab case, something critical keeps fading out of view. Simply put: Hassan is innocent, as proven by French investigators’ own case documents and palm print and finger print mismatches -- and they know this but don’t want to accept it.
So, why do French investigators pursue Hassan when they know he is innocent? We can speculate about possible political ambition, tunnel vision, fear of embarrassment, and the desire to score “hero points”.
However, what really matters is what happens to the innocent man caught up in this runaway legal process.
The judge can decide to (1) extradite Hassan, (2) refuse to extradite Hassan, or (3) stay the entire proceedings.
Option 1 involves sending an innocent man to an unfair trial in France, under an inquisitorial (or shall we say “inquisitional”?) system whereby he cannot bring his own witnesses and cannot challenge the sources of secret intelligence.
Option 2 amounts to a decision that there is not enough evidence for extradition. While this is true, this is a decision that doesn’t begin to address the real horrors in this case under this body of extradition law and a legal process that has seen suppression of exonerating evidence and falsehoods entered into the Record of the Case as “presumptively reliable”. This option would fail to provide redress for the abusive prosecution of a man known to be innocent, costing him his freedom, livelihood, and years of his life. This option would not prevent French investigators from restarting the entire extradition process.
Option 3 would be to stay (halt) the entire case, ending the matter once and for all, and recognizing the wrongdoing French investigators have committed against Hassan and against the Canadian court. Real and authentic justice would require the judge to acknowledge that France has abused the Canadian legal process.
In sum, the options are:
- Option 1: Committal for extradition leading to almost certain conviction in a kangaroo court followed by life in prison
- Option 2: Abstaining from a definitive decision either way
- Option 3: Authentic justice
French investigators insist that the judge accept the Record of the Case as originally put forth in 2008, and ignore all the significant evidence that has come to light since then. The French stance amounts to saying, “In the extradition treaty, you promised to accept whatever we say as reliable; so we insist that you do so, in spite of all the evidence to the contrary. You’re bound by treaty to accept our theory, as improbable as it may be in view of the facts. While you may have caught us lying about some things, you have to believe us anyway. After all, you promised!”
Hassan’s lawyer presented nine abuses of process (selected from a larger number) perpetrated by French investigators in this case. These are deliberate misrepresentations and omissions that were used together with secret intelligence and bogus handwriting analysis to fabricate the case against Hassan.
In an adversarial legal system, the prosecutor is supposed to marshal all the evidence against the accused and leverage this evidence for all it’s worth to get a conviction. But in an adversarial system, the accused also has the defence to marshal exonerating evidence, and to counterbalance the prosecutor. Each side must address the points made by the other side, so everyone has the same opportunity for influence on the outcome of the case.
Extradition law has none of this balance. The accused is severely disadvantaged, while the prosecutor representing the requesting state needs to prove almost nothing in order to achieve extradition.
That’s why it’s so crucial to have an honest Record of the Case for an extradition hearing. The Record of the Case must be scrupulously fair, candid and representative of all the evidence in the case. This is the only way to ensure a modicum of balance and fairness when someone may be deprived of his liberty.
In this extradition process, French investigators want to have their cake and eat it too. They want to enjoy the presumptive reliability accorded by treaty while suppressing exonerating evidence, cherry-picking evidence, contradicting themselves, and stretching and spinning the evidence in very misleading ways. They also want Candians extradited to their country, while they would never extradite their own citizens. If they are allowed to get away with this, then Hassan Diab’s case will be a complete railroad job. And it will mean any Canadian is a sitting duck whenever any of Canada’s extradition partners is looking for a scapegoat with whom to close a case.
A decision to stay the extradition proceedings would be the only truly just option in this case, and it would have to be based on the nine abuses identified by the defence.
As to the insistence of French investigators on continued trust, I say:
Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me.
Fool me 9 times? OUTRIGHT ABUSE.
Check out Dr. Dawg's blog on Hassan's extradition case and the terrible decision on the bogus handwriting evidence.
http://drdawgsblawg.ca/2011/02/hassan-diab-another-stop-on-the-railroad.shtml
“The farcical and contradictory French evidence must be taken as "presumptively reliable" under current extradition law. Canadian citizens whose extradition has been requested have little legal recourse to prevent it. Now, thanks to Justice Maranger, they have even less.”
On Sunday June 19, 2011, at 10:00 AM EST, Prism TV's "Rights and Security" will discuss the case of Hassan Diab.
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