A Paris court docket has convicted a Lebanese-Canadian educational in absentia on terrorism expenses over a bombing exterior a Paris synagogue in 1980 that killed 4 and wounded 46
PARIS — A Paris court docket has convicted a Lebanese-Canadian educational in absentia on terrorism expenses and sentenced him to life in jail over a bombing exterior a Paris synagogue in 1980 that killed 4 and wounded 46.
The court docket issued an arrest warrant for suspect Hassan Diab, lives in Ottawa, Canada and denies wrongdoing. His legal professionals say he was in Lebanon on the time of the assault and is a sufferer of mistaken identification.
The trial that marked the end result of a long time of investigation in one in every of France’s longest unsolved crimes.
French authorities accuse Diab of planting the bomb exterior the synagogue the place 320 worshipers had gathered to mark the tip of a Jewish vacation on the night of Oct. 3, 1980, , together with youngsters celebrating their bar mitzvahs.
French investigators attributed the synagogue assault to the Common Entrance for the Liberation of Palestine-Particular Operations. However nobody ever claimed accountability.
The conviction was a shock to many even within the court docket. Among the many protection witnesses was a Justice of the Peace who investigated the case and testified that there was not sufficient proof to convict Diab.
The top of France’s main Jewish group, CRIF, welcomed the conviction, and urged Canada to arrest Diab. The victims’ attorneys say the long-awaited trial will function deterrent for future terrorist acts and antisemitic sentiments.
