Jewish advocacy organizations are fuming that the man convicted for the deadly 1980 bombing outside a Paris synagogue continues to live a comfortable life in Canada’s national capital.
Beirut-born Hassan Diab, 71, is seen walking and biking in the Ottawa suburbs in these exclusive DailyMail.com photos.
‘That Hassan Diab remains free in Canada is unacceptable,’ said Richard Marceau, Vice President, External Affairs and General Counsel at the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), in a statement to DailyMail.com on Thursday.
The government of former prime minister Justin Trudeau refused to extradite Diab to France.
But Canadians are going to the polls later this spring and a change of government could spell trouble for Diab.
Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre posted on social media last November: ‘Why hasn’t he been extradited to France to face justice?’
And Diab is apparently aware his fate could change, telling a Canadaland podcast: ‘I just have to be careful. It’s like you are living in constant fear.
‘It’s not easy, it’s like waiting for a ghost to appear from somewhere.’
Four people were killed on the evening of October 3, 1980, when an explosive device attached to a motorcycle detonated outside of the Rue Copernic synagogue.
Diab, who has consistently claimed he was taking university exams in Beirut at the time of the bombing, was arrested in Canada in 2008 but released on bail.
In 2014, he was extradited to France, where he spent three years in pretrial detention. Diab returned to Canada in 2018 when the charges against him were dropped.
The Paris Court of Appeal reversed the dismissal in January 2021 and ordered Diab to stand trial.
Diab refused to return to France and on April 21, 2023, he was convicted of terrorism charges in absentia and sentenced to life in prison.
An international arrest warrant was issued.
‘He was afforded every protection under French and European law and was found guilty by an independent court of law,’ said Marceau, describing the failure to return Diab to France as ‘an abuse of process.’
He added: ‘Justice must be upheld. At a time of rising anti-Semitism, allowing a convicted perpetrator of a deadly anti-Semitic attack to remain in Canada is indefensible.
‘Diab must be held accountable and extradited to France to serve his life sentence.’
B’nai B’rith Canada, an international Jewish service organization, also hailed the decision to reverse the dismissal and said the move represented a ‘long-awaited step’ for the victims.
‘The delays in holding accountable those responsible for what is known as the darkest day for French Jews since the Holocaust has only exacerbated the wounds caused by the attack,’ the organization told DailyMail.com.
‘The passage of time should not allow the perpetrator of such a horrific anti-Semitic terror attack to escape justice.
‘If the French government seeks Diab’s extradition and his extradition is authorized by a Justice in Canada, it is our expectation that Canada will honor its treaty with France and extradite Diab to France.’
Last year, Diab taught a course titled Social Justice in Action at Ottawa’s Carleton University, using his extradition case in the class.
B’nai B’rith Canada was one of the many Jewish groups that blasted Carleton University, in a statement posted on social media.
‘We cannot stand by while a convicted terrorist, affiliated with a listed terrorist group, teaches on our campuses!
‘Carleton’s silence is deeply disturbing. Its decision to continue to employ Diab not only presents a danger to the well-being of its students, but it is an insult to the memory of the innocent victims of his heinous crime and an affront to all Canadians who value law and order.’
In January, the university said in a statement that Diab was no longer ‘in the employment of Carleton.
His wife, Rania Tfaily, is an Associate Professor and Associate Chair in Carleton’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology.
The couple has a daughter Jena and son Jad together and Diab has two adult children, Maya and Jude, from a previous relationship.
Diab lives in a modest split-level home on a quiet, tree-dotted street. He goes for runs and rides his bicycle in the neighborhood.
On Thursday, Diab spent over an hour inside a Second Cup café near his home working on a laptop. He declined to speak to a reporter.
Diab’s lawyer Donald Bayne, who did not respond to a request for comment, wrote in 2021 that putting Diab on trial in France ‘is an unjust decision and one that perpetuates over a decade-long miscarriage of justice’.
And the convicted terrorist has defenders in his community.
The Hassan Diab Support Committee said in a statement in January that Diab is being vilified and scapegoated. It claims France’s case against Diab was ‘always extremely weak’ and the 2023 conviction came from a ‘bogus trial’.
It added: ‘Canada must not be party to this injustice and must state urgently and unequivocally that Hassan Diab will not be subjected to a second extradition.’