The following letter has been delivered to Prime Minister Trudeau. Signed by 116 academics, lawyers, faith leaders, journalists and activists, and 24 organizations, the letter was written by Michelle Weinroth, and supported by Just Peace Advocates.
‘Photo credits; Hassan Diab Support Committee
At this critical juncture, it is more important than ever to take action and call upon the Canadian government to protect Dr. Hassan Diab from another wrongful extradition.
Take action: https://www.justiceforhassandiab.org/
The Letter sent to Prime Minister Trudeau
Michelle Weinroth delivering letter to Prime Minister Trudeau.
le français suit
June 15, 2023
The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau
Office of the Prime Minister of Canada
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A2
Dear Prime Minister Trudeau:
A second extradition request from France may or may not be forthcoming for Hassan Diab. If and when that request arrives on Canada’s shores, it will be in the form of a Record of the Case based on a guilty verdict arising from a sham trial, one held in a French court of no record.
A trial that lasts 3 weeks, and for which the verdict and its lengthy (31-page) justification are presented after a mere 24 hours, cannot be a deliberative process, but a “confirmatory hearing.” Clearly, the guilty verdict was predetermined. France’s 2023 Copernic trial was a travesty of justice.
Driven by political pressure to scapegoat an innocent man, the Copernic trial was bereft of official transcripts. Digital recording of the event was strictly forbidden. Whether testifying under oath or not, witnesses could lie with impunity since perjury in France is practically never punished. The civil parties and the prosecutors were allowed to vilify the accused, filibuster, and steal the defense’s speaking time. The presiding judge ignored the alibi and prosecutors suppressed vital exculpatory evidence. The entire process was beyond scandalous.
The incriminating story, which French prosecutors touted throughout the trial, was a variation on a narrative France presented in 2008 to Canadian extradition authorities when Dr. Diab was first sought. In 2011, extradition judge Robert Maranger deemed France’s story indefensible. Teeming with contradictions, errors, and conjectures, France’s submission was not only confounding, it rested on unsourced and unsworn intelligence, unfit in a Canadian court. Working in collaboration with France, Canada’s extradition team, known as the International Assistance Group (IAG), was compelled to cast it aside, such was its shoddiness and illegitimacy.
But in 2023, French prosecutors brazenly resurrected the very tale they had presented to Canada in 2008 and which Justice Robert Maranger had repudiated in 2011. In short, that which Canada rejected more than a decade ago became France’s basis for sentencing Hassan Diab to life in prison in 2023.
With the aid of foreign intelligence, French authorities scripted a fictional scenario, wrought of unsubstantiated incriminatory claims, and a spurious theory of a “smoking gun” (a faded facsimile of a likely doctored-up passport, and for which there is no original) in order to deal the harshest blow to our most innocent fellow citizen.
But not all in France have stooped so low. Two honourable French investigative magistrates spoke truth to power. Steadfastly, courageously, and against external pressure, they declared (both in 2018 and in 2023), after more than three years of scrupulous inquiry, that there was no evidence to bring Dr. Diab to trial, leave alone convict him. A powerful alibi and exculpatory fingerprint proof had rendered void all allegations against this long-suffering man.
Mr. Trudeau, your remarks regarding the case of Hassan Diab – that Canada will always stand up for its citizens – yields hope, and the possibility that your words signal a salutary change in the Extradition Act—a defective law that is largely responsible for Dr. Diab’s disgraceful extradition to France in 2014. Such a change in the Act would, among other things, guarantee transparency, by prohibiting the suppression of exculpatory material and by disqualifying, from the start, extradition requests that submit unsourced and unsworn intelligence as evidence. This would save innocent lives from the torment of wrongful surrender to a foreign state and wrongful conviction in a foreign court. This would mean that Hassan Diab’s horrific ordeal would never, as you put it (5:00-5:15), happen again.
But for the 1999 Extradition Act to be truly transformed, this unjust Canadian law will require a powerful catalyst: it will need your intervention in the Diab Affair. You must set the precedent and say NO to a second extradition for this innocent Canadian citizen who has already paid heavily for a crime he did not commit.
Canadians from coast to coast are urging you to do the right thing and to do it now! Should you fail to act forthwith to save Dr. Diab from the ultimate nightmare, your unconscionable lapse will be burned in the memory of countless voters.
Sincerely,
submitted by: Michelle Weinroth
Signed by:
Individuals
Aaron Lakoff, Independent Jewish Voices Canada, Montreal
Alan Conn Strid, Philanthropist, Arrowwood
Andrea Levy, Ph.D., Montreal
Anna Lippman, Doctoral candidate, Toronto
Anna Zalik, Associate Professor, York University
Annette Lengyel, Community organizer, Calgary
Aoife Hazen, Artist, New Brunswick
Azeezah Kanji, Legal academic and journalist, Toronto
Bianca Mugyenyi, Director, Canadian Foreign Policy Institute, Montreal
Bruce Katz, Retired teacher, Vaudreuil, Quebec
Bruce R. Allen Paralegal, St. Catharines
Carl Rosenberg, Translator, B.C.
Cassandra Ryan, Writer, activist, Toronto
Catherine Zink, Concerned Canadian, Rocky View County, Alberta
Chandni Desai, Professor, Toronto
Charlotte Kates, International coordinator, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, Vancouver
Cheryl Gaster, Human Rights Lawyer (Retired), Toronto,
Chris Hedges, Journalist, author, ordained minister
Claire Louise Bidwell, Teacher, Scotland
Colleen Fuller, Health Policy Researcher. Vancouver, BC
Corey Balsam, National Coordinator, Independent Jewish Voices Canada, Montreal
Bill Clennett, Citoyen, Gatineau
Crystal Whitney, Educator, Calgary
Cynthia Wright, Associate Professor, Toronto
Daniel Nashid, Lawyer, Toronto
David Heap, Ph.D., Associate Professor, London, Ontario
David Mivasair, Rabbi, Hamilton, Ontario
David R Low, Retired Clergy, St Catharines, Ontario
David R. Fairn, Teacher, Nova Scotia
Deborah Brock, Associate professor, Toronto
Deborah Cowen, Professor, University of Toronto
Deborah Guterman, Lawyer, Toronto
Desmond Sequeira, Govt. Multi-Faith Chaplain (Retired), St. Catharines
Diana Ralph, Author, teacher, social worker, Jew, Ottawa
Diane Touchette, Retired administrator. Canada
Dimitri Lascaris, Lawyer, Montreal
Dr. James Deutsch, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
Dr. Sheila Delany, Emerita, SFU, Author, professor, activist, Vancouver
Dr. Stefan Kipker, Professor, Toronto
Dyala Hamzah, Professor, Montreal
Dyala Hamzah, Professeure, Montréal
E Shaker, Researcher, Ottawa
Ed Leh-man, Peace activist, retired educator, Regina
Elizabeth Block, Activist, artisan, Toronto
Enver Domingo, Retired, Oakville
Eric Mills, Editor, Toronto
Frances Combs., Clergy, Toronto
Frank Holden, Civil Rights Activist, St. John’s
Heidi Friesen, Teacher, Calgary
Jake Javanshir, Activist, North York
Jalal Kawash, Professor, Calgary
James Kafieh, Lawyer, Ontario
Jan Steven, Chaplain, Social Worker, St. Catharines
Janet Siltanen, Professor Emerita, Ottawa
Janice Price, BScN Retired PHN, Ontario
Jennifer Stimac, Secondary school teacher, retired, Toronto
Jérôme Brassard-Duperré, Citoyen, Gatineau
Jillian Rogin, Assistant Professor, Hamilton, Ontario
John Baglow, Writer, Ottawa
John Liss, Lawyer, Toronto
John Riddell, Author, Toronto
John W. Foster Human Rights professor, Nepean
Judith Deutsch, Psychoanalyst, Toronto
Judy Haiven, Retired Professor, St Mary’s University, Halifax NS
Julia Barnett, Supervisor, Region of Peel Health, Toronto,
Karen Rodman, Board member Just Peace Advocates, Kawartha Lakes
Karoline Truchon, Professeure, Montréal
Khaled Barakat, Palestinian writer; co-founder, Masar Badil movement, Vancouver
Laura Macdonald, Professor, Political Science, Ottawa
Leslee Balsam, Concerned citizen, Ottawa
Louise Blais PhD, Professeure retraitée, Université D’Ottawa, Montréal, Québec
Marjorie Robertson, Retired Professor, Ottawa
Mark Muhannad Ayyash, Professor of Sociology, Mount Royal University, Calgary
Martin Fontaine agent, de pastorale, Montréal
Mary Lou Jorgensen-Bacher, Retired government worker, Toronto
M Blais, Professeure, Québec
Merav Weinroth, Artist and Caregiver, Montreal
Michael Alvarez-Toye, Spokesperson, Animal Advocacy, Calgary,
Michael Letwin, Former President, Assn. of Legal Aid Attorneys/UAW 2325, Brooklyn, NY
Michael Lynk, Professor Emeritus at the University of Western Ontario
Michel Abdel Nour, Entrepreneur, Quebec
Michel Seymour, professeur honoraire Université de Montréal
Michelle Weinroth, Writer and teacher, Ottawa
Miriam Meir, Retired Public Health Nurse Jewish, Calgary, Alberta
Mona Kadri, Business owner, Calgary, Alberta
Murray Lumley, Retired teacher, Toronto
Naheed Gilani, Portfolio Manager, Vancouver
Nora McKay, Teacher, Canada
Nyla Matuk, Author, Montreal
Odette Dabit, Ordinary Canadian of Palestinian descent, Milton, Ontario
Pat Colpitts, Retired, Regina, SK
Paul Leduc Browne, Professeur associé, Université du Québec en Outaouais, Ottawa
Paul Tetrault, Lawyer, Vancouver
Prof. Don Ray, Professor Emeritus, Calgary
Rachel Small, Organizer, World BEYOND War, Canada
Rashmi Luther Professor (retired), School of Social Work, Carleton University, Ottawa
Reuben Roth, Professor Emeritus , Oshawa, Ontario
Rox Chwaluk, Activist, Educator, St. Catharines
S. Rans, Retired, London, Ontario
Sally Campbell, Retired lawyer/mediator, Hornby Island, BC
Samaa Elibyari, Community Activist, Montréal
Shadi, Concerned Citizen, Calgary
Shahrzad Mojab, Professor, University of Toronto
Sheryl Nestel, Professor, Toronto
Sid Shniad, Founding member, Independent Jewish Voices Canada, Surrey, B.C.
Stephen Aberle, Actor, Vancouver, BC
Susan Jane Spronk, Professor, Ottawa
Suzanne Weiss, Author, Holocaust survivor, Toronto
Tarick Mirza, CEO, Hamilton, Ontario
Thouria Bekka, Montreal
Vannina Sztainbok , Researcher, Toronto
Yves Engler, Author , Montreal
Yvonne Schmitz, Social Worker, Calgary
Organizations
ACAT- UJFP, Paris
AFPS, Lombard
Bathurst United Church Toronto
Belgian Academics for Palestine
Canadian Foreign Policy Institute
Canadian Voice of Women for Peace
Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME)
Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid
Independent Jewish Voices
Just Peace Advocates/Mouvement Pour Une Paix Juste
Justice for All Canada
Knowledge Track Inc., Ottawa
Let Kashmir Decide
Masar Badil: Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement
Niagara Movement for Justice in Palestine-Israel (NMJPI)
Oakville Palestinian Rights Association
OPIRG- Carleton
Palestine House -Mississauga
Peace Alliance Winnipeg
People for Peace, London
Regina Peace Council
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
Socialist Action / Ligue pour l’Action socialiste
World BEYOND War
Published initially by Rabble.ca
Le 15 juin 2023
Le très honorable Justin Trudeau
Premier ministre du Canada
Édifice Langevin, 80 rue Wellington
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A OA2
Monsieur le Premier ministre,
L’incertitude règne sur l’affaire Diab. La France va-t-elle demander une deuxième extradition pour notre compatriote ? L’idée même est intenable. Si la France présente sa demande, celle-ci sera basée sur un verdict de culpabilité préparé d’avance, une décision qui fut prédéterminée depuis longtemps et qui donna lieu à une parodie de la justice.
Un procès qui dure trois semaines, avec un arrêt dont la justification (de trente-et-une pages à simple interligne) arrive toute faite en moins de vingt-quatre heures, n’est aucunement un processus de délibération méthodique, mais une audience confirmative, débordante de paroles diffamatoires, bref, une escroquerie marquée par la mendicité, la manipulation et la désinformation.
Après quarante-trois ans, certaines forces politiques et parties civiles eurent besoin d’un bouc émissaire pour résoudre l’affaire Copernic. Pour en finir une fois pour toutes, il leur fallut insister pour que Hassan Diab soit condamné. Le procès fut donc une moquerie de la justice; il se déroula à l’insu du grand public, car l’enregistrement ainsi que la transcription de cette pièce de théâtre n’eurent pas lieu. Les témoins pouvaient mentir sous serment car le parjure en France est rarement sanctionné. Les parties civiles et les procureurs eurent le droit de vilipender l’accusé et d’usurper le temps de parole de la défense. Le président de la Cour d’assises ignora l’alibi et les procureurs nièrent toutes les preuves disculpatoires. Le tout fut plus que scandaleux.
Au cours du procès, les procureurs français vantèrent un récit qui sous-tendait la demande d’extradition que la France présenta aux autorités canadiennes en 2008. En 2011, le juge d’extradition, Robert Maranger, trouva le dossier d’extradition français lamentable, bourré de contradictions et d’hypothèses confuses. Le Groupe d’assistance international (une équipe d’avocats canadiens du Ministère fédéral de la Justice), qui collabora avec les Français, fut obligé de retirer une première version de ce dossier d’extradition. Ce dernier fut inacceptable selon la Cour canadienne car il reposait sur des sources anonymes.
Mais en 2023, les procureurs français réintroduisirent le récit que le juge Robert Maranger répudia en 2011 et qui sous-tendait le dossier d’extradition présenté au Canada en 2008. Autrement dit, ce que le Canada rejeta il y a plus de dix ans devint en 2023 le fondement de la condamnation d’Hassan Diab à la prison en perpétuité.
En puisant de l’information non-vérifiée dans des sources anonymes, les autorités françaises rédigèrent un scénario fictif, étoffé de déclarations culpabilisantes sans fondement, afin de porter le coup le plus dur à notre compatriote.
Mais les Français ne sont pas tous sans honneur. Deux juges d’instruction déclarèrent (aussi bien en 2018 qu’en 2023) après trois ans d’enquête scrupuleuse, qu’aucune preuve ne justifiait une inculpation de Hassan Diab, sans parler de sa condamnation à la perpétuité. Un alibi puissant et des preuves disculpatoires annulèrent toute allégation contre cet homme qui continue jusqu’ici à souffrir d’une persécution sans répit.
Monsieur, vos paroles quant au cas de Hassan Diab – notamment, que le Canada va toujours protéger ses citoyens –, donnent de l’espoir. Il se peut que vos mots signalent une transformation de la loi sur l’extradition – une loi qui est en grande partie responsable de l’honteuse extradition de M. Diab en 2014. Une transformation de la loi pourrait empêcher la suppression des preuves disculpatoires; elle pourrait garantir que des demandes d’extradition qui reposent sur des informations anonymes soient disqualifiées d’emblée. En effet, une loi transformée pourrait nous protéger, ainsi que toutes les personnes innocentes soumises à une extradition ou à une condamnation injustifiée dans les tribunaux d’autres pays. Cela voudrait dire (comme vous l’avez dit vous-même) que l’horrible sort que subit Hassan Diab ne se reproduirait jamais.
Mais pour que la loi sur l’extradition soit véritablement transformée, il faudra que vous interveniez dans l’affaire Diab. C’est à vous de créer le précédent. Vous devez dire “Non” à une deuxième demande d’extradition pour M. Diab. Car ce citoyen canadien a déjà payé cher — même trop cher — un crime qu’il n’a pas commis.
Vos concitoyennes et concitoyens vous exhortent à agir maintenant. Si vous manquez à votre devoir, si vous ne protégez pas Hassan Diab contre la persécution de la Cour d’assises, les électeurs canadiens ne l’oublieront jamais.
Veuillez agréer, Monsieur le Premier ministre, l’expression de mes sentiments distingués et les meilleurs.
