"Diab's lawyer Donald Bayne fought hard to have the handwriting analysis disallowed and brought three internationally renowned experts, all of whom debunked the French work and accused Bisotti of not having a grasp of modern scientific methods.
Justice Maranger said he had problems with some aspects of the Bisotti analysis, but said Bayne had failed to show that her report was "manifestly unreliable," a legal threshold Bayne needed to meet in order to have the Bisotti evidence tossed.
Johnston conceded Friday that, had the handwriting decision gone against the prosecutors, they would have faced "an uphill battle."
"The handwriting evidence standing alone is enough to warrant committal (for extradition)," he said. "But the evidence doesn't stop there.""
REPORTER CHRIS COBB: THE OTTAWA CITIZEN;
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"There is more than enough circumstantial evidence against former University of Ottawa professor Hassan Diab to justify his extradition to France, a federal Crown lawyer claimed Friday," the Ottawa Citizen story by reporter Chris Cobb published earlier today under the heading "Diab extradition case strong enough, Crown argues," begins.
"Urging Justice Robert Maranger to ignore "emotional pleas" from Diab's lawyer, prosecutor Jeffrey Johnston said the relatively "low standard" of evidence required by Canadian extradition law had been amply met during the protracted two-year proceedings against Diab," the story continues.
"The Lebanese-born Canadian is wanted for murder and attempted murder by Paris police for his alleged role in the bombing of a synagogue in the French capital in October 1980.
Diab, 57, says he is an innocent victim of mistaken identity.
Diab was a member of the terrorist organization Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) at the time of the bombing, Johnston said, and he had been identified by Paris witnesses.
However, the single most important piece of evidence, he added, was the handwriting analysis of a French expert who compared five words written in a Paris hotel registration book shortly before the bombing with samples of Diab's later writing taken from U.S. Immigration papers.
The French forensic handwriting expert, Anne Bisotti, found similarities in the writing.
French authorities allege that the person who signed into the hotel under the fictitious name Alexander Panadriyu and added "Larnaca, Cyprus, Technician" was a senior member of the terrorist team that planted the bomb outside Rue Copernic synagogue, killing four passersby.
Celebrants inside the synagogue, including more than 100 children, were late leaving because of a delay in the service.
Diab's lawyer Donald Bayne fought hard to have the handwriting analysis disallowed and brought three internationally renowned experts, all of whom debunked the French work and accused Bisotti of not having a grasp of modern scientific methods.
Justice Maranger said he had problems with some aspects of the Bisotti analysis, but said Bayne had failed to show that her report was "manifestly unreliable," a legal threshold Bayne needed to meet in order to have the Bisotti evidence tossed.
Johnston conceded Friday that, had the handwriting decision gone against the prosecutors, they would have faced "an uphill battle."
"The handwriting evidence standing alone is enough to warrant committal (for extradition)," he said. "But the evidence doesn't stop there."
The case continues Monday."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The story can be found at:
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Diab+extradition+case+strong+enough+Crown+argues/4388819/story.html
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be accessed at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith
For a breakdown of some of the cases, issues and controversies this Blog is currently following, please turn to:
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=120008354894645705&postID=8369513443994476774
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;
