STORY: "French court rejects Diab appeal to have key evidence tossed," by reporter Christopher Cobb, published by the Ottawa Citizen on December 29, 2015.
PHOTO CAPTION: "Hassan Diab has been held in prison in France since his November 2014 extradition for a decades-old terrorism case."
GIST: "Ottawa academic Hassan Diab, currently in a Paris prison awaiting
trial for terrorism-related killings, has suffered a significant legal
setback. The French Court of Appeal has rejected the 62-year-old’s
application
to have crucial handwriting and intelligence evidence removed from the
prosecution’s case against him. The Lebanon-born Canadian was extradited
to France at the French
government’s request in November 2014. He is accused of planting a bomb
that killed four people outside a Paris synagogue in October 1980. At
least 40 others inside and outside the Rue Copernic synagogue were
injured in the blast. Since his arrest by the RCMP in November 2008, the
father of four has
maintained his innocence and says he was not in Paris at the time of
the bomb attack.
French authorities claim the bombers used false travel documents to
enter and exit France. An Ottawa extradition judge ordered Diab deported
in the summer of
2011. After a series of failed appeals — including a refusal by the
Supreme Court to review his case — he was flown to Paris, jailed and
charged. Canadian federal prosecutors acting for the French government
withdrew the intelligence evidence at the extradition hearing when it
became clear that its source was unknown and the French could not prove
that it hadn’t been gleaned from torture. That same evidence now will be
used against Diab at his trial, which is expected during 2016. The
handwriting analysis was key to Diab’s extradition and the subject of a
bitter dispute at the extradition hearing. Three internationally
renowned handwriting experts hired to testify
at the extradition hearing by Diab’s lawyer, Donald Bayne, denounced the
French analysis as incompetent. It compared a signature on a hotel
registration card with a sample of
Diab’s handwriting provided to the French by the University of
Syracuse, where Diab studied. Bayne told the Citizen he was
“disappointed” that the French legal
system sees the handwriting analysis and unsourced intelligence as
credible evidence.“Every credible handwriting expert has said the
handwriting opinion is unreliable,” he said."
The entire story can be found at:
https://www.google.com/
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.
I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.
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/
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
The entire story can be found at:
https://www.google.com/
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.
I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.
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/
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
