A bail hearing for a Canadian-Lebanese national arrested for his alleged role in a 1980 Paris bombing that killed four was adjourned Friday to allow for preparation of legal arguments.
Hassan Diab, 54, was arrested Thursday in a suburb of Canada’s capital at the request of French authorities who want him extradited to stand trial for murder, attempted murder and the destruction of property for his alleged role in the bombing.
A next hearing at the Ontario Superior Court in downtown Ottawa to determine if he should be released, or not, pending the result of an extradition hearing will be held the morning of November 20.
In the meantime, he must remain in detention.
“We had very limited time to review the extensive material we were provided for the first time this afternoon, minutes before the hearing began,” said Diab’s attorney Rene Duval. “It’s in his best interest, for now.”
In October 1980, a bomb planted in a motorcycle saddlebag outside the Copernic Street synagogue in Paris’s 16th arrondissement killed three Frenchmen and a young Israeli woman, and injured dozens.
It was the first fatal attack against the French Jewish community since the Nazi occupation of World War II.
French authorities issued a warrant in November 2007 for Diab’s arrest, following a lead from German intelligence, believing he was involved. But Diab has insisted they had made a mistake and denied links to extremist groups.
Details of Thursday’s proceedings cannot be reported due to a publication ban ordered by Judge Michel Charbonneau, and a provisional arrest warrant has been sealed.
But Duval told reporters outside the courthouse: “This is a case of mistaken identity.”
“My client is basically shocked,” he said.
“He is a law-abiding citizen and has been all his life. All of a sudden he’s dragged in chains and handcuffs and he’s now going to spend a couple of days in a common jail which is not where he belongs.”
Diab, his attorney said, had been studying in Beirut at the time of the Copernic Street bombing, and he later moved to the United States to pursue a doctorate.
Before his arrest, he worked as a professor at Canada’s eminent Carleton University, in its sociology and anthropology department, and as a part-time instructor at the University of Ottawa.
Duval said he would fight the extradition on the grounds of mistaken identity and due to “insufficient evidence.”
Diab faces possible life in prison for murder, attempted murder and willful destruction of property, if convicted in a French court.
