Members of Carleton University’s faculty have voted to throw their support behind Hassan Diab, a Paris bombing suspect who was recently relieved of his teaching duties at the school.
The Ottawa professor, who has taught at both Ottawa and Carleton universities, faces charges of murder and attempted murder in connection with the bombing of a Paris synagogue in 1980.
Diab, 55, is accused of killing four people and injuring dozens of others in the attack. Since November 2008, he has been under virtual house arrest as a condition of his bail.
Diab had been hired to teach a sociology course at Carleton this summer, but was recently replaced with another instructor, the school announced Tuesday.
In a statement issued Tuesday, a group of 22 faculty members in the sociology and anthropology faculty said the university’s administration had violated it’s own procedures in cancelling Diab’s contract, and called for his reinstatement.
The administration’s statement said the decision had been made “in the interest of providing its students with a stable, productive academic environment that is conducive to learning.”
