
France Court Orders Release Of Lebanese Militant After 40 Years In Jail
Abdallah, 74, is one of the longest-serving prisoners in France, where most convicts on life sentences are freed after less than 30 years.
He has been up for release for 25 years, but the United States -- a civil party to the case -- has consistently opposed him leaving prison.
Abdallah was detained in 1984 and sentenced to life in prison in 1987 for his involvement in the murders of US military attache Charles Robert Ray and Israeli diplomat Yacov Barsimantov in Paris.
Lebanese of Maronite Christian heritage, he has always insisted he is not a "criminal" but a "fighter" for the rights of Palestinians, whom he said were targeted, along with Lebanon, by the United States and Israel.
The Paris Appeals Court ordered he be freed from a prison in the south of France on July 25, on condition that he leave French territory and never return.
It said the length of his detention had been "disproportionate" and that he no longer represented a danger to the public.
Several sources before the hearing said that it was planned for him to be flown to Paris and then to Beirut.
Prosecutors can file an appeal with France's highest court, the Court of Cassation, but any such request is not expected to be processed fast enough to halt his release next week.
The detainee's brother, Robert Abdallah, in Lebanon told AFP he was overjoyed.
"We're delighted. I didn't expect the French judiciary to make such a decision nor for him to ever be freed, especially after so many failed requests for release," he said.
"For once, the French authorities have freed themselves from Israeli and US pressure," he added.
Lebanese authorities have repeatedly said Abdallah should be freed from jail, and had written to the appeals court to say they would organise his return home.
Abdallah's lawyer Jean-Louis Chalanset also welcomed the decision, calling it a "political scandal he was not released earlier".
Israel's embassy in Paris meanwhile released a statement saying it regretted the decision to release Abdallah.
"Such terrorists, enemies of the free world, should spend their life in prison," it said.
Lebanon's charge d'affaires in Paris, Ziad Taan, told AFP the country was "extremely satisfied" by the decision, adding that Abdallah will be "welcome" in Lebanon.
In November last year, a French court ordered Abdallah to be released on condition that he leave France.
But France's anti-terror prosecutors, arguing that he had not changed his political views, appealed the decision, which was suspended.
A verdict was supposed to have been delivered in February, but the Paris appeals court postponed it over compensation payments.
The court re-examined the latest request for his release last month.
During the closed-door hearing, Abdallah's lawyer told the judges that 16,000 euros had been placed in the prisoner's bank account at the disposal of civil parties in the case, including the United States, according to several sources who attended.
Abdallah was wounded as a teenager when Israel invaded Lebanon in 1978 in the early years of the country's civil war.
As an adult, he founded the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Factions (LARF), a Marxist pro-Syria and anti-Israel group that has now been dissolved.
After his arrest in 1984, French police discovered submachine guns and transceiver stations in one of his Paris apartments.
The appeals court in February however noted that the FARL "had not committed a violent action since 1984" and that Abdallah "today represented a past symbol of the Palestinian struggle".
Lebanon hosts tens of thousands of Palestinians, according to the United Nations, most descendants of those who fled or were expelled from their land during the creation of Israel in 1948. He is to be released from the Lannemezan prison in southern France next week AFP Georges Abdallah, here seen in 2010, had been denied multiple previous requests for release AFP
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Int'l Business Times
27 minutes ago
- Int'l Business Times
More Than 80% Of Tuvalu Seeks Australian Climate Visa
More than 80 percent of Pacific nation Tuvalu's population is seeking a landmark climate visa to live in Australia as rising seas lap at its shores, official figures showed Wednesday. Australia is offering visas to Tuvalu citizens each year under a climate migration deal Canberra has billed as "the first agreement of its kind anywhere in the world". "We received extremely high levels of interest in the ballot with 8,750 registrations, which includes family members of primary registrants," the Australian high commission in Tuvalu said in a statement. The figure is equal to 82 percent of the country's 10,643 population, according to census figures collected in 2022. "With 280 visas offered this program year, it means that many will miss out," the commission said. One of the most climate-threatened corners of the planet, scientists fear Tuvalu will be uninhabitable within the next 80 years. Two of the archipelago's nine coral atolls have already largely disappeared under the waves. The figures were released hours before a landmark decision by the world's top court in The Hague laying out what legal obligations countries have to prevent climate change and whether polluters should pay up for the consequences. The case, which has been brought by Pacific nations, could reshape climate justice, with major impacts on laws around the world. Australia and Tuvalu signed the groundbreaking Falepili Union in 2024, part of Canberra's efforts to blunt China's expanding reach in the region. Under that pact, Australia opened a new visa category specially set aside for citizens of Tuvalu who will be selected at random. "Australia recognises the devastating impact climate change is having on the livelihoods, security, and wellbeing of climate vulnerable countries and people, particularly in the Pacific region," Australia's foreign affairs department told AFP last month. "This is the first agreement of its kind anywhere in the world, providing a pathway for mobility with dignity as climate impacts worsen." It will also provide Tuvaluans the choice to live, study and work in Australia. Tuvalu citizens, including those living outside the country, were eligible to be included in the ballot if they are aged over 18 and pay a Aus$25 fee (US$16). The visa deal has been hailed as a landmark response to the looming challenge of climate-forced migration. The Falepili pact commits Australia to defending Tuvalu in the face of natural disasters, health pandemics and "military aggression". "For the first time, there is a country that has committed legally to come to the aid of Tuvalu, upon request, when Tuvalu encounters a major natural disaster, a health pandemic or military aggression," Tuvalu Prime Minister Feleti Teo said at the time. "Again, for the first time there is a country that has committed legally to recognise the future statehood and sovereignty of Tuvalu despite the detrimental impact of climate changed-induced sea level rise." The agreement also gives Australia a say in any other defence pacts Tuvalu signs with other countries, raising concerns at the time that the Pacific nation was handing over its sovereignty. Tuvalu is one of just 12 states that still have formal diplomatic relations with Taipei rather than Beijing.


Int'l Business Times
2 hours ago
- Int'l Business Times
South Korea Sees Record Birth Rate Growth For Jan-May
South Korea registered record birth rate growth during the first five months of the year, a statistics agency official told AFP on Wednesday. The country has one of the world's longest life expectancies and lowest birth rates -- a combination that presents a looming demographic challenge. Seoul has poured billions of dollars into efforts to encourage women to have more children and maintain population stability. "The number of newborns for the January-May period stood at 106,048, a 6.9 percent increase, the highest growth rate since such data collection began in 1981," said Kang hyun-young from Statistics Korea. The surge follows South Korea's first annual increase in the number of births in more than a decade, driven by a rise in marriages. In 2024, the number of newborns rose by 8,300, or 3.6 percent, to 238,300 from the previous year. April in particular saw a spike, with year-on-year growth reaching 8.7 percent and the number of births totalling 20,717 that month. The latest figure marks a sharp turnaround from early 2024, when the number of births for the January-May period dropped by 2.7 percent from the previous year. The fertility rate, or the average number of babies a woman is expected to have in her lifetime, for May stood at 0.75. The country needs a fertility rate of 2.1 children in order to maintain the country's population of 51 million. At current rates, the population will nearly halve to 26.8 million by 2100, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington in Seattle. The increase is attributable "to a rise in the number of women in their early 30s, leading to an overall increase in marriages", Kang told AFP. "In South Korea, there is a strong correlation between marriage and childbirth, which has driven the increase in births during the first five months," she added. In 2024, the country saw a 14.8 percent on-year increase in the number of marriages, with more than 220,000 couples tying the knot. Many government benefits designed to support child-rearing do not cover parents who are not legally married. Analysts say there are multiple reasons for the low birth rate, from high child-rearing costs and property prices to a notoriously competitive society that makes well-paid jobs difficult to secure. The double burden for working mothers of managing the brunt of household chores and childcare while also maintaining their careers is another key factor, they say. In a bid to reverse the trend, the South Korean government offers cash subsidies, babysitting services, and support for infertility treatment. Neighbouring Japan is grappling with the same issue -- it has the world's second-oldest population after Monaco, and the country's relatively strict immigration rules mean it faces growing labour shortages.


DW
2 hours ago
- DW
Germany updates: AfD keeps 'suspected extremist' label – DW – 07/23/2025
A court has upheld the classification of the AfD party as "suspected right-wing extremist" by domestic intelligence. An appeal against its listing as "confirmed extremist" is still running. DW has this story and more. A top German court has rejected a final complaint by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) over its assessment by the domestic intelligence agency as a suspected right-wing extremist group. The classification means that the party can be monitored by the BfV domestic intelligence agency, including by recruiting undercover informants from its ranks. An upgraded assessment of the party as "confirmed" right-wing extremist by the BfV from May is still suspended pending a ruling after another legal challenge by the AfD. Meanwhile, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron in Berlin as their countries boost their partnership amid troubled trans-Atlantic ties. The DW newsroom in Bonn wishes all our readers on Wednesday, July 23! We will be reporting on a meeting between German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron as the two leaders seek to bolster their countries' partnership at the heart of the European Union amid a myriad of challenges. The evening will also see another momentous European encounter as Spain plays Germany in the Women's European Championship semifinals in Zurich days after the German team snatched a dramatic win over France. DW will bring you reports, analyses and explainers on these and other stories to keep you up to date with all the topics currently in focus in Germany.