Ottawa man wanted by France in 1980 bombing challenges extradition order
OTTAWA - An Ottawa sociology professor says an Ontario judge and the federal justice minister made legal errors in deciding he should be extradited to France as a suspect in a decades-old terror bombing.
Hassan Diab heads to Ontario's appeal court today to argue the reasoning was flawed and should be overruled.
French authorities suspect Diab, 59, was involved in the anti-Semitic 1980 bombing of a Paris synagogue that killed four people and injured dozens of others.
In June 2011, Ontario Superior Court Justice Robert Maranger committed Diab for extradition to face French authorities, even though he acknowleged the case against him was weak.
Last year, then-justice minister Rob Nicholson signed an extradition order.
Diab denies any role in the deadly attack, saying the unwavering moral principle throughout his life has been to promote equality and respect for all.
