Hassan Diab: Canada: Is Canada's Justice Department trying to suppress a report on Diab's terribly flawed extradition which could shed light on how Canada handled dubious handwriting and fingerprint evidence amassed by French authorities? Law Times story: "Criminal Lawyers (Criminal Lawyers Association) press Minister of Justice to release report on extradition case," reporter Anita Balakrishnan..."The Criminal Lawyers Association says Minister of Justice David Lametti should release the report investigating an extradition case and conduct a public inquiry. The CLA said that Lametti received a report on the case of Hassan Diab in late May but has not said when he will release the findings of the probe, which was conducted by Ontario’s former Deputy Attorney General Murray Segal. “Transparency, accountability and fairness require that Mr. Diab and the community at large be made aware of the nature and scope of Mr. Segal’s mandate, the investigations he undertook, and the conclusions he reached as to whether government lawyers followed the law and departmental procedures,” the CLA said in a statement calling for the report’s release." tainted

PASSAGE  ONE OF THE DAY: "Diab was accused of ties to a deadly 1980 bombing in Paris, and in 2018 French judges dismissed all charges and ordered his release, the website said. Investigative news stories from CBC have raised questions about Diab’s case over the past decade, particularly on how Canada handled handwriting and fingerprint evidence. However, the Supreme Court of Canada said that it would not hear Diab’s case."

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PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: "Don Bayne, Hassan’s lawyer, said Segal’s mandate “was deliberately too limited – to avoid the hard questions and issues.”“Mr. Segal’s powers were too circumscribed compared to a judge’s who can compel witnesses and documents. There was no challenge or cross-examination of the DOJ’s (Department of Justice)  version of their conduct. There was no true examination of the dangers and shortcomings of the Extradition Act and procedure (and jurisprudence). We had no access to the behind the scenes letters and documents,” said Bayne in a statement posted on the “Justice for Hassan Diab” website."

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STORY: "Criminal lawyers press Minister of Justice to release report on extradition case," by reporter Anita Balakrishnan, published by The Law Times on June 6, 2019.

SUB-HEADING:    "Case exposes frailty of extradition law, CLA (Criminal Lawyers Association)  says."

GIST: "The Criminal Lawyers Association says Minister of Justice David Lametti should release the report investigating an extradition case and conduct a public inquiry. The CLA said that Lametti received a report on the case of Hassan Diab in late May but has not said when he will release the findings of the probe, which was conducted by Ontario’s former Deputy Attorney General Murray Segal. “Transparency, accountability and fairness require that Mr. Diab and the community at large be made aware of the nature and scope of Mr. Segal’s mandate, the investigations he undertook, and the conclusions he reached as to whether government lawyers followed the law and departmental procedures,” the CLA said in a statement calling for the report’s release. “Additionally, and more importantly, a public inquiry must be held into this matter to resolve any questions of the propriety of government officials.” Rachel Rappaport, press secretary for the Office of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, confirmed Minister’s Office got the report on May 21. “Time is being taken to review and translate the report prior to its public release. We are committed to transparency in this matter and will have more to say soon on the release date for the report,” she said in an email.

The report centers on Diab, a Canadian citizen and sociology professor extradited from Canada to France in November 2014 and imprisoned in France for three years, according to the website “Justice for Hassan Diab.” Diab was accused of ties to a deadly 1980 bombing in Paris, and in 2018 French judges dismissed all charges and ordered his release, the website said. Investigative news stories from CBC have raised questions about Diab’s case over the past decade, particularly on how Canada handled handwriting and fingerprint evidence. However, the Supreme Court of Canada said that it would not hear Diab’s case. As of January, Diab’s website said the case was still being looked at by the Court of Appeal in France. Segal’s appointment to the probe made headlines last year and has drawn interest from several civil rights organizations, under the umbrella of Justice for Hassan Diab. Despite objections from the CLA, Lametti’s predecessor opted to investigate the circumstances of Diab’s extradition through internal review rather than a public inquiry. Don Bayne, Hassan’s lawyer, said Segal’s mandate “was deliberately too limited – to avoid the hard questions and issues.”
“Mr. Segal’s powers were too circumscribed compared to a judge’s who can compel witnesses and documents. There was no challenge or cross-examination of the DOJ’s version of their conduct. There was no true examination of the dangers and shortcomings of the Extradition Act and procedure (and jurisprudence). We had no access to the behind the scenes letters and documents,” said Bayne in a statement posted on the “Justice for Hassan Diab” website. Michael Lacy, president of the Criminal Lawyers’ Association, says that Diab’s case is important to criminal lawyers who deal with extradition, but says the CLA has not conducted its own investigation and cannot see Segal’s report to comment on its findings. “There were serious concerns raised about the conduct of lawyers in the Department of Justice that were dealing with the extradition request, both inside court and outside of court,” says Lacy. “Crown attorneys or Crown counsel make representations to the court, defence lawyers make representations to the court, and your word is your bond….it undermines the confidence in the entire administration of justice if government officials are making misrepresentations about things to courts, so we obviously have an interest in that larger issue as well.” Lacy says the case gives Canada an opportunity to reconsider its extradition regime. “It’s a legitimate government function to cooperate with requesting countries. We have treaty obligations in that regard, and no one would think we want Canada to become a haven for people who commit crimes,” says Lacy. “Why it is a moment of import for criminal lawyers generally is because the question is….What kind of proof or threshold finding of proof are you going to require before you uproot a citizen or resident of Canada?” The CLA is hopeful that Segal’s report will be released but has not received word either way from authorities, says Lacy.  “Diab’s case really highlighted the frailties of the existing extradition act,” Lacy says."

The entire story can be read at: 

https://www.lawtimesnews.com/author/anita-balakrishnan/criminal-lawyers-press-minister-of-justice-to-release-report-on-extradition-case-17358/

Access Wikipedia entry at link below: "Hassan Diab (Arabic: حسن دياب‎) (born November 20, 1953) is a sociology professor at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.^[1] In 2008, France requested his extradition for his alleged involvement in the 1980 Paris synagogue bombing. After a lengthy extradition hearing, on June 6, 2011, the Canadian extradition judge described the evidence as "convoluted, very confusing, with conclusions that are suspect" and stated that "the prospects of conviction in the context of a fair trial seem unlikely". However, the judge said that his interpretation of Canada’s extradition law left him no choice but to commit Diab to extradition.
On April 4, 2012, the Minister of Justice, Rob Nicholson, ordered Diab extradited to France. Diab's appeal to the Ontario Court of Appeal was rejected and the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear the case. On November 14, 2014, Hassan was extradited from Canada to France where he was imprisoned for 3 years and two months while the investigation continued.^[2] Since then, four French anti-terrorism judges have uncovered testimony from several individuals stating that Dr. Diab was in Lebanon at the time of the bombing as well as University records which show he wrote and passed exams in Beirut then and couldn't have been in Paris. They have ordered his conditional release under electronic surveillance eight times, only to have their orders challenged by the prosecutor and overturned by an appeal court.^[3] On January 12, 2018, French authorities dropped all charges against Hassan Diab, citing lack of evidence.^[4] On January 14 Dr. Diab returned to Canada. On January 17, Dr. Diab and his Ottawa support committee held a press release at the offices of Amnesty International Canada.^{[5........................}Based on information from intelligence agencies of Germany obtained from former members of the group, French authorities allege that Diab was a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the group blamed for the bombing.^[18] Evidence unsealed as part of the extradition case, in April 2009, included two police sketches made some time after the bombing. Samples of Diab's handwriting, while a student at Syracuse University years later, were subjected to handwriting analysis. The sample of Diab's Syracuse handwriting was compared to the writing on a Paris hotel registration card filled out under the alias Alexandre Panadriyu. One French expert stated that the handwriting was definitely Diab's, though it appeared efforts had been made to change it. Another French expert said Diab could have written the registration card.^[7][19] In October 2009, Diab’s lawyer submitted to the Canadian court several reports produced by experts in Canada, the United States, France and the United Kingdom. The lawyer informed the court that intelligence experts were prepared to explain the difference between evidence and intelligence and its "inherent secrecy and non-disclosure". Moreover, handwriting experts, including a top British expert, characterized the evidence tendered by French authorities as "demonstrably false". The Crown, on behalf of France, retracted the evidentiary nature of its original handwriting experts and asked the court for more time in order to obtain another opinion.^[20] The evidence was withdrawn when Diab's lawyer showed that the comparison handwriting samples used were not written by Diab. ^[21]
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Diab

Access Justice for Hassan Diab website at:
 http://www.justiceforhassandiab.org/

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. 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;