PUBLISHER'S VIEW:
Hassan Diab's lawyer's claim that on April 4, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson signed an order surrendering Dr. Hassan Diab to France, despite new information emanating from French officials stating that Dr. Diab is wanted in France for mere questioning, and that no decision has been made about whether to try Dr. Diab.
Indeed, his supporters note in their web-site that, "In legal submissions to the Minister, Mr. Donald Bayne, Hassan’s lawyer, noted that Canada’s Extradition Act does not allow the Justice Minister to surrender Canadian citizens to other countries for mere questioning and to languish in jail for years without trial."
If true, the implications are profoundly disturbing, for Canada would be handing over one of it's citizen's to the French authorities for a fishing expedition on the basis of innuendo and discredited handwriting evidence supposedly pinning Diab to the crime, which even the judge conducting the extradition hearing acknowledged to be sorely lacking.
Surely much more must be required before a Canadian can be handed over to another jurisdiction on the most serious criminal charges.
Worse, once Diab is handed over to the French authorities, there will be no way for the Canadian Government to protect him from the vagaries of the inquisitorial French criminal justice system in circumstances where the alleged evidence has already been show to be so lacking.
The reality, I suppose, is that the Canadian government has gone too far in its ill-advised pursuit of Professor Diab on behalf of the French authorities - and that is why we are about to see a real test of the independence of the Canadian courts.
We expect them to do their job.
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
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The blog set up by Hassan Diab's supporters can be found at:
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
I am monitoring this case. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments.
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 found at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html
Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;
