Hassan Diab: Canadian academic to stand trial in French terrorism case

A Canadian academic accused of a 1980 bombing outside a Paris synagogue will face trial in 2023, five years after he was freed due to lack of evidence.

France says Lebanese-born sociology professor Hassan Diab was a member of a Palestinian militant group and planted a bomb that killed four and wounded 40.

Last year, France's court of appeal overturned a lower court decision to release Mr Diab and allow his return to Canada after three years in prison.

Mr Diab has maintained his innocence.

French authorities have not yet requested Mr Diab's extradition to France in order to stand trial in person. His lawyers have told Canadian media he could be tried in absentia.

Mr Diab was first arrested by Canada's RCMP in 2008 and placed under strict bail conditions until his extradition to France in 2014. He spent three years in a French prison on charges of first-degree murder before the case was dropped.

The 64-year-old has insisted that he was in Lebanon at the time of the attack to write university exams, and several witnesses, as well as university documents, support his claim.

In May, France's top court denied Mr Diab's appeal, paving the way for next year's trial. At the appeal hearing, France's advocate general, a senior legal officer, sided with Mr Diab's defence team and argued for his release.

But French prosecutors have persisted in their case against Mr Diab, relying on evidence that linked his handwriting to that of the suspected bomber.

This evidence has been disputed by Mr Diab's legal team, who proved that some of the handwriting samples used by the French analysts belonged to Mr Diab's ex-wife, not Mr Diab himself.

Since his release, the former University of Ottawa professor has been living with his wife and two children in Canada's capital.

The trial is scheduled to start on 3 April, 2023.