Georges Abdallah hails 'mobilization' that led to decision to release him
"If they agreed to release me, it's thanks to this mobilization, which is growing," said the pro-Palestinian Lebanese activist during an exchange with LFI [radical left] lawmaker Andrée Taurinya, during a visit by the parliamentarian to the Lannemezan prison [south], where he is being held.
In his 11-square-meter cell adorned with a portrait of Che Guevara and posters supporting the Palestinian cause, the 74-year-old detainee, who is set to be released on July 25, said that it was not the length of his imprisonment that finally secured a release.
"Time spent behind bars for 'political' prisoners doesn't matter; whether you spend five years, 20 years, 30 years, 40 years, that's not actually the reason for release," Abdallah said.
"A broader movement prompts release: If the political prisoner or activist who is incarcerated manages to be part of the momentum of struggles on the outside, it's the mobilization of men and women outside that gets him out. It's essentially thanks to that," he added.
The Paris Court of Appeal on Thursday ordered that Georges Ibrahim Abdallah be released on July 25, "on condition he leaves the national territory and does not return," according to the court's ruling seen by AFP.
Convicted in 1987 for complicity in the assassinations of American and Israeli diplomats, he had denied this at his trial, asserting that he was "nothing but an Arab fighter." He became one of France's longest-serving prisoners and has never expressed any regret.
"Forty years is a long time, but you don't feel it when there's a dynamic of struggle ... If I am standing before you today, it's because I fight; otherwise, 40 years would rot your brain," said the septuagenarian.
By late Thursday afternoon, in front of the Lannemezan prison, several dozen supporters had gathered to celebrate the decision by the Paris Court of Appeal.
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