Latest news with #HassanDiab
Ya Libnan
27-04-2025
- Politics
- Ya Libnan
Former PM Diab interrogated by Judge Bitar over 2020 Beirut Port explosion
Photo: Judge Tarek Bitar was appointed lead investigator into the Beirut Port blast ( background ) after the removal of his predecessor Judge Fadi Sawwan in February, 2021 . The background of Bitar's picture shows the huge silos of Beirut Port that exploded on Aug 4 , 2020, which killed over 220 people , injured about 7000 and left 300, 000 homeless after 2,750 Tons of Ammonium Nitrate Exploded . They were stored there for nearly 7 years. , reportedly for use by the Syrian regime in its barrel bombs against the civilians in Syria. Former President Michel Aoun and former PM Hassan Diab were informed about the explosive chemical 2 weeks before the explosion. but did nothing about it . Hezbollah and its allies successfully blocked the investigation and campaigned for months to get the courageous judge fired from his position like they did to his predecessor . The Lebanese government , the presidency and the parliament leadership were all at the time controlled by Hezbollah Beirut -Former PM Hassan Diab, an ally of the Iranian backed Hezbollah militant group appeared Friday before Judge Tarek Bitar for interrogation in the case of the August 2020 catastrophic blast at Beirut's port. File: Former PM Hassan Diab left and Hezbollah' slain leader Hassan Nasrallah Diab , who is not currently living in Lebanon was reportedly advised by Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan, upon his arrival in Beirut to appear before Judge Bitar in order not to be accused of obstructing his investigation. This comes after former General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim and former State Security chief Tony Saliba were interrogated by Bitar earlier this month. The August 4, 2020 explosion killed more than 220 people, injured some 7000 , left 300, 000 homeless and devastated swathes of Lebanon's capital. Abbas Ibrahim was the first official to admit that the explosion was caused by the chemical that was stored there for nearly 7 years Authorities said the explosion was triggered by a fire in a warehouse where a the huge stockpile of ammonium nitrate had been stored illegally . Diab and former president Michel Aoun were officially informed about the presence of the ammonium nitrate 2 weeks before the explosion but didn't do anything about it Nobody has been held accountable for the blast, one of history's largest non-nuclear explosions ever. Bitar, who took up the case more than four years ago, resumed his investigation in January after a two-year pause Both Ibrahim and Saliba initially refused to appear before Bitar , claiming immunity. Both are known for their strong support for Hezbollah. Hezbollah has been obstructing Bitar's investigation for years accusing him of bias and demanded his dismissal, after he accused several of its ally of involvement in the blast . Bitar resumed the investigation after the war weakened Hezbollah and its influence in the country. The war devastated Hezbollah militarily and left its strongholds in south Lebanon in ruins As the power balance shifted, Lebanon parliament in January elected former army chief Joseph Aoun as president and former International Court of Justice judge Nawaf Salam as prime minister, after a more than two-year leadership vacuum. Both have vowed to uphold the independence of the judiciary and prevent interference in its work, in a country plagued by impunity. Iran which reportedly shipped the ammonium nitrate to Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2013 for use by its ally Syrian president Bashar al Assad in its barrel bombs against the Syrian civilians experienced a similar explosion on Sunday at its largest port in Bandar Abbas in which dozens were killed and hundreds were wounded when different types of chemicals exploded The Associated Press cited British security firm Ambrey as saying the port received in March sodium perchlorate, which is used to propel ballistic missiles and whose mishandling could have led to the explosion.
Al Jazeera
31-03-2025
- Al Jazeera
The Take: The Copernic Affair – The professor accused of a Paris bombing
Hassan Diab, a Lebanese-Canadian professor, has spent nearly 20 years defending himself against accusations of involvement in a 1980 bombing of the Copernic Street synagogue in Paris. The twists and turns of his case raise serious questions about justice, accountability, and the possibility of a wrongful accusation. In this episode: Episode credits: This episode was produced by Marcos Bartolomé with Phillip Lanos, Spencer Cline, Hanah Shokeir, Melanie Marich, Noor Wazwaz and our guest host Manuel Rápalo. It was edited by Alexandra Locke. Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad Al-Melhemm. Alexandra Locke is The Take's executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera's head of audio. Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Instagram, X, Facebook, Threads and YouTube
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Canada professor convicted in absentia gets renewed attention from right over 1980 Paris attack
Until recently, Hassan Diab's life in Ottawa had begun to settle back into a quiet suburban routine: spending his days teaching sociology part time at Carleton University, taking his two youngest children to the park to play football, or going for an afternoon swim. It had been well over a year since he was convicted in absentia for carrying out a deadly bomb attack on a Paris synagogue in 1980, and the media attention had largely quieted down. He was trying to move on with his life. Diab, who is Lebanese Canadian, has consistently maintained his innocence, claiming he was in Beirut sitting university exams at the time of the bombing. But in January, a new voice weighed into his case, returning it to the headlines. Elon Musk reposted an X post about Diab by Pierre Polievre, leader of the country's federal Conservative party. Musk added a remark: 'A mass murderer is living free as a professor in Canada?' More than 21 million people saw the post. For 71-year-old Diab, whose story is the focus of a new Canadaland podcast series, the renewed attention from prominent rightwing figures has plunged his life back into a familiar turmoil. With a general election which needs to be called before October, Diab fears that shifting politicians winds in Canada could lead to a new extradition fight. '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.' *** Aliza Shagrir, an Israeli film editor, was in Paris on holiday in October 1980, when she stopped at a grocery store on rue Copernic to buy figs. Moments later, a blast ripped through the street. Shopfronts were blown out. Parked cars were reduced to twisted hunks of metal. Ten kilograms of the explosive PETN had been hidden inside a motorbike parked outside a synagogue and timed to detonate at 6:30pm, when the congregation was due to be leaving. But services were running late, so the more than 300 worshippers were still inside when the bomb exploded. Shagrir was one of four passersby who were killed in the attack. Her son, Oron Shagrir, said that the family never recovered from the loss. 'She was 42 when she was killed. She was beautiful, joyful, very opinionated. In some ways, she was the centre of the family.' The blast shocked the country. It was the first deadly attack targeting French Jews since the second world war, and in the following days, thousands of Parisians marched in solidarity with the Jewish community. French police gathered a limited set of clues: a handwriting sample from his hotel registration card, and a police sketch based on witness testimony. Together with the type of explosive used and a German intelligence report, authorities concluded that the attack was committed by the PFLP-OS - a now defunct offshoot of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. But it wasn't until decades later, in 2007, after a new investigative judge in Paris named Marc Trévidic took over the case, that Diab became a focus of the investigation. His name appeared in an unsourced 1999 Israeli intelligence report, which included a list of people purportedly involved in the bombing. Diab's lawyer, Don Bayne, has long argued that the intelligence used to identify him is unreliable, saying: 'It's unknown sources. Unknown circumstances. Who said what? When? Is this a human source? Is this just something some analyst made up? We have no idea.' Trévidic obtained a photocopy of an old passport belonging to Diab, which contained stamps showing travel in and out of Europe around the dates of the attack. Finally, he found a 1988 police interrogation record, in which one of Diab's former university friends suggested that Diab was once involved with a political party linked to the PFLP. Diab denies ever being involved with a political group. He says that he believes his passport was stolen in Beirut in 1980, and subsequently used by the bomber. In 2008, Trévidic had completed his initial investigation and submitted an extradition request to the Canadian government. Diab was getting ready to leave the house for his morning jog in November that year when police showed up. He was arrested and later released on bail. As the case attracted increasing media attention, Ottawa citizens and human rights organisations grew alarmed at what they believed was insufficient evidence to justify Diab's extradition. Bernie Farber, a Jewish community leader who had initially welcomed Diab's arrest, was following closely. 'It came to a point where I just couldn't believe that people didn't understand that this was not the guy,' he said. In April 2012, Robert Maranger, the judge overseeing the extradition hearings, delivered his verdict. He described the French case as 'weak [and] replete with seemingly disconnected information'. But he was sufficiently persuaded by handwriting analysis gathered from five words written on the suspect's hotel registration card. Despite expert testimonies strongly criticising the analysis, Maranger granted the extradition. Diab's appeals failed, and in November 2014, he was placed on an Air France flight bound for Paris, where he was met on the tarmac by French police and escorted to prison. Eleven months into his detention, Diab received some welcome news; Trevidic's term as investigative judge had come to an end, and two new judges would be reinvestigating the case. They interviewed Diab at length, and travelled to Lebanon to gather testimony from former university classmates, who said they remembered Diab sitting exams in Beirut the week of the bombing. Eventually, the judges ruled that there was insufficient evidence to keep Diab detained, and ordered his release. After more than three years incarcerated in Paris without trial, he was free to return home to Canada. Three days later, Diab was welcomed at Ottawa airport by supporters – and by his wife, Rania, and his two children – the youngest of whom he was meeting outside prison walls for the first time. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau later voiced his support, saying that 'what happened to Hassan Diab never should have happened', and promised a government inquiry into his extradition. For Diab, the past decade had felt like a kafkaesque nightmare – and now it looked like it might finally be over. But his relief was short-lived. The French judges' decision was successfully appealed, and arrangements were made for a fresh trial in April 2023. Diab was requested to attend in person, but without a new extradition order he was under no obligation to show up. During the three-week Paris trial, state anti-terrorist prosecutors asked for a maximum prison sentence, saying there was 'no possible doubt' he was guilty. Diab's defence asked for him to be acquitted to 'avoid a judicial error'. No new evidence was presented during the three-week trial, and the handwriting evidence was thrown out after it was determined to be inconclusive. The only material evidence brought up in court was a set of fingerprints and a handprint believed to belong to the bomber. Neither was a match for Diab. But the court dismissed alibis presented by Diab, saying their explanations about the passport being lost and his presence in Beirut at the time of the attack were 'variable' and 'not very credible'. On 21 April 2023, Diab was found guilty in absentia, and sentenced to life in prison. A warrant was immediately issued for his arrest. In the knowledge he could be arrested at any moment, Diab attempted to reintegrate back into his old life, living back at home with his family, and working as a part-time professor at Carleton University. In late 2024, the Jewish advocacy group B'nai B'rith issued a statement calling for Carleton to end Diab's teaching contract, igniting a flurry of new interest in the case – particularly in the rightwing media. Diab's sociology department chair said while Diab's current contract has ended, the department's relationship with him had not changed. Diab says his lectures were temporarily relocated out of concern for student safety, and he received death threats to his work email. For now, his life hangs in an anxious limbo. He's out of prison, but is followed by the constant dread that his government could accept another extradition request from France. 'That's the sword above your head, waiting to fall.'
The Guardian
11-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Canada professor convicted in absentia gets renewed attention from right over 1980 Paris attack
Until recently, Hassan Diab's life in Ottawa had begun to settle back into a quiet suburban routine: spending his days teaching sociology part time at Carleton University, taking his two youngest children to the park to play football, or going for an afternoon swim. It had been well over a year since he was convicted in absentia for carrying out a deadly bomb attack on a Paris synagogue in 1980, and the media attention had largely quieted down. He was trying to move on with his life. Diab, who is Lebanese Canadian, has consistently maintained his innocence, claiming he was in Beirut sitting university exams at the time of the bombing. But in January, a new voice weighed into his case, returning it to the headlines. Elon Musk reposted an X post about Diab by Pierre Polievre, leader of the country's federal Conservative party. Musk added a remark: 'A mass murderer is living free as a professor in Canada?' More than 21 million people saw the post. For 71-year-old Diab, whose story is the focus of a new Canadaland podcast series, the renewed attention from prominent rightwing figures has plunged his life back into a familiar turmoil. With a general election which needs to be called before October, Diab fears that shifting politicians winds in Canada could lead to a new extradition fight. '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.' Aliza Shagrir, an Israeli film editor, was in Paris on holiday in October 1980, when she stopped at a grocery store on rue Copernic to buy figs. Moments later, a blast ripped through the street. Shopfronts were blown out. Parked cars were reduced to twisted hunks of metal. Ten kilograms of the explosive PETN had been hidden inside a motorbike parked outside a synagogue and timed to detonate at 6:30pm, when the congregation was due to be leaving. But services were running late, so the more than 300 worshippers were still inside when the bomb exploded. Shagrir was one of four passersby who were killed in the attack. Her son, Oron Shagrir, said that the family never recovered from the loss. 'She was 42 when she was killed. She was beautiful, joyful, very opinionated. In some ways, she was the centre of the family.' The blast shocked the country. It was the first deadly attack targeting French Jews since the second world war, and in the following days, thousands of Parisians marched in solidarity with the Jewish community. French police gathered a limited set of clues: a handwriting sample from his hotel registration card, and a police sketch based on witness testimony. Together with the type of explosive used and a German intelligence report, authorities concluded that the attack was committed by the PFLP-OS - a now defunct offshoot of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. But it wasn't until decades later, in 2007, after a new investigative judge in Paris named Marc Trévidic took over the case, that Diab became a focus of the investigation. His name appeared in an unsourced 1999 Israeli intelligence report, which included a list of people purportedly involved in the bombing. Diab's lawyer, Don Bayne, has long argued that the intelligence used to identify him is unreliable, saying: 'It's unknown sources. Unknown circumstances. Who said what? When? Is this a human source? Is this just something some analyst made up? We have no idea.' Trévidic obtained a photocopy of an old passport belonging to Diab, which contained stamps showing travel in and out of Europe around the dates of the attack. Finally, he found a 1988 police interrogation record, in which one of Diab's former university friends suggested that Diab was once involved with a political party linked to the PFLP. Diab denies ever being involved with a political group. He says that he believes his passport was stolen in Beirut in 1980, and subsequently used by the bomber. In 2008, Trévidic had completed his initial investigation and submitted an extradition request to the Canadian government. Diab was getting ready to leave the house for his morning jog in November that year when police showed up. He was arrested and later released on bail. As the case attracted increasing media attention, Ottawa citizens and human rights organisations grew alarmed at what they believed was insufficient evidence to justify Diab's extradition. Bernie Farber, a Jewish community leader who had initially welcomed Diab's arrest, was following closely. 'It came to a point where I just couldn't believe that people didn't understand that this was not the guy,' he said. In April 2012, Robert Maranger, the judge overseeing the extradition hearings, delivered his verdict. He described the French case as 'weak [and] replete with seemingly disconnected information'. But he was sufficiently persuaded by handwriting analysis gathered from five words written on the suspect's hotel registration card. Despite expert testimonies strongly criticising the analysis, Maranger granted the extradition. Diab's appeals failed, and in November 2014, he was placed on an Air France flight bound for Paris, where he was met on the tarmac by French police and escorted to prison. Eleven months into his detention, Diab received some welcome news; Trevidic's term as investigative judge had come to an end, and two new judges would be reinvestigating the case. They interviewed Diab at length, and travelled to Lebanon to gather testimony from former university classmates, who said they remembered Diab sitting exams in Beirut the week of the bombing. Eventually, the judges ruled that there was insufficient evidence to keep Diab detained, and ordered his release. After more than three years incarcerated in Paris without trial, he was free to return home to Canada. Three days later, Diab was welcomed at Ottawa airport by supporters – and by his wife, Rania, and his two children – the youngest of whom he was meeting outside prison walls for the first time. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau later voiced his support, saying that 'what happened to Hassan Diab never should have happened', and promised a government inquiry into his extradition. For Diab, the past decade had felt like a kafkaesque nightmare – and now it looked like it might finally be over. But his relief was short-lived. The French judges' decision was successfully appealed, and arrangements were made for a fresh trial in April 2023. Diab was requested to attend in person, but without a new extradition order he was under no obligation to show up. During the three-week Paris trial, state anti-terrorist prosecutors asked for a maximum prison sentence, saying there was 'no possible doubt' he was guilty. Diab's defence asked for him to be acquitted to 'avoid a judicial error'. No new evidence was presented during the three-week trial, and the handwriting evidence was thrown out after it was determined to be inconclusive. The only material evidence brought up in court was a set of fingerprints and a handprint believed to belong to the bomber. Neither was a match for Diab. But the court dismissed alibis presented by Diab, saying their explanations about the passport being lost and his presence in Beirut at the time of the attack were 'variable' and 'not very credible'. On 21 April 2023, Diab was found guilty in absentia, and sentenced to life in prison. A warrant was immediately issued for his arrest. In the knowledge he could be arrested at any moment, Diab attempted to reintegrate back into his old life, living back at home with his family, and working as a part-time professor at Carleton University. In late 2024, the Jewish advocacy group B'nai B'rith issued a statement calling for Carleton to end Diab's teaching contract, igniting a flurry of new interest in the case – particularly in the rightwing media. Diab's sociology department chair said while Diab's current contract has ended, the department's relationship with him had not changed. Diab says his lectures were temporarily relocated out of concern for student safety, and he received death threats to his work email. For now, his life hangs in an anxious limbo. He's out of prison, but is followed by the constant dread that his government could accept another extradition request from France. 'That's the sword above your head, waiting to fall.'
Al Jazeera
10-03-2025
- Business
- Al Jazeera
What's happening with Lebanon's economy and will it recover?
Lebanon's economy has been on a turbulent journey in recent years, with a triple crisis affecting its banking sector, economy, and currency. Israel's recent war on the country only intensified the challenges, leaving Lebanon grappling with destruction and uncertainty. To understand the current economic landscape, it is essential to look back at key events over the past decade. The 'WhatsApp tax' protests, 2019 Although the 2019 protests were initially prompted by a proposed tax on WhatsApp calls, the underlying cause was deep-seated anger over the government's failed policies, mismanagement, corruption, and the deep economic inequality that resulted. Public trust in the government had been declining for years, driven by its controversial fiscal policies and the central bank's failed 'financial engineering' in 2016 – complex swaps and issuance of financial instruments to attract foreign currency and inject liquidity into the banking system. Persistent budget deficits and inflated public sector salaries – boosted by a large salary hike in 2018 – further affected trust. The resulting economic hardship triggered the October 2019 protests and exposed the country's economic fragility. In March 2020, Prime Minister Hassan Diab's government defaulted on its sovereign debt, just as the COVID-19 pandemic struck, disrupting global supply chains and exacerbating Lebanon's vulnerabilities. The pandemic further strained an already weakened healthcare system, leading to critical shortages of hospital beds and essential medications. Its reliance on tourism and remittances made Lebanon particularly susceptible to the global economic downturn. The Beirut port explosion, 2020 In August 2020, one of the most powerful non-nuclear explosions in history devastated Beirut. In addition to the widespread destruction and loss of life it caused in the capital, the explosion exposed deep-rooted corruption and negligence that further eroded public trust in the government. It also severely discouraged foreign investment, further destabilising an already precarious situation. The Lebanese pound went into freefall throughout 2020, fuelling rampant inflation and eroding people's purchasing power. Then, in 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, upending global fuel and food supply chains that affected countries worldwide. In Lebanon, it further intensified the already intense economic pressure on households, which were struggling to maintain basic living standards as the government increasingly struggled to provide the most essential services – and fell short. Sali Hafiz: 'Wonder Woman' demands her money As the banking sector fell deeper into turmoil starting in 2019, and in the third quarter of that year, banks began to severely restrict people's access to their deposits. Then in September 2022, Sali Hafiz took a replica gun and held up a Beirut bank to access her own savings. She immediately became a symbol of the suffering that many Lebanese were going through, and they started calling her 'Wonder Woman'. These compounding crises created a perfect storm, leaving Lebanon teetering on the edge of collapse. Many families were forced to sell cherished valuables, while reliance on overseas remittances intensified. Yet even this lifeline proved insufficient for many. The desperation fuelled a surge of Lebanese, including skilled professionals, emigrating – the exodus of 'boat people' attempting perilous sea journeys becoming a stark symbol of the nation's despair. In the third quarter of 2019, the government established a dual exchange rate regime – an official rate and a free market rate – and imposed price ceilings on certain commodities, including fuel and medication. This led to shortages and the development of black markets for these commodities, beginning in 2020 and escalating to extensive queues and widespread public anger by 2021. Thus, by the end of 2022, at the end of President Michel Aoun's mandate and the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Mikati's government, the debt default, pandemic, port explosion, currency devaluation, and global price hikes had resulted in unprecedented economic and social distress. A glimmer of hope dashed In 2023, the government stopped printing Lira banknotes, which helped the exchange rate stabilise. In parallel, price controls were lifted the previous year, ending shortages and black markets. However, this hope was short-lived as Hezbollah began militarily engaging Israel on October 8 in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, events in Gaza. After months of trading attacks over the border, Israel launched a full-scale assault on the country in September 2024, leaving it devastated by the end of the year. The resulting destruction was huge, estimated by the World Bank at approximately $3.4bn, while economic losses, including lost productivity and trade disruptions, amounted to an additional $5.1bn. Combined, they represent a staggering 40 percent of Lebanon's gross domestic product (GDP). The conflict further disrupted trade and deterred foreign investment, exacerbating existing challenges – destroyed infrastructure hampered transport and logistics, severely affecting businesses already barely surviving. Unplugging Hezbollah Hezbollah has had a huge role in Lebanese society for decades, providing financial and social support to its support base in Beirut's southern suburb, the south, and northern Bekaa Valley. But its role was significantly degraded by the war, effectively 'unplugging' its contributions from the economic system, which is likely to negatively affect those who relied on its support. While the full macroeconomic effect is not yet clear, this could lead to further social and economic instability, especially given that Israel focused its destructive attention on areas where Hezbollah's support base – now deprived of Hezbollah's support – lives. Hopes for the future Lebanon has a new government under President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, and hopes are running high for renewed political will to implement difficult reforms given that the new government enjoys re-found popular legitimacy. Among the potential avenues the new government can explore would be banking reform, increasing trade and foreign investment, and increasing its attractiveness as a destination for businesses. However, it faces immense challenges posed by the deep-rooted problems that have plagued Lebanon for at least a decade. What remains to be seen is whether it will be able to implement economic reforms, maintain political stability, and navigate the complexities of the regional geopolitical landscape. Ultimately, the success of these efforts will directly affect the Lebanese people, particularly the most vulnerable, in a context where the poverty rate has increased tremendously since 2019. Failure to deliver could exacerbate the daily struggle for a decent living, pushing more citizens towards desperate measures, including increased emigration and brain drain, further eroding the nation's social fabric.
