Canada's "Dreyfus Affair": New Developments (Cdn university prof accused by the French of terrorism)

[JohnyCanuck]

Twice-postponed decision now due April 18


There have been important new developments in Hassan Diab's extradition case [background]. The Minister of Justice, Mr. Rob Nicholson, has twice postponed making a decision.

The decision to postpone came in the wake of new material submitted by Hassan's lawyers and, of course, our public protest of unjust and Kafkaesque extradition proceedings.

Hassan's fate is in the hands of Minister Nicholson, who has the power to decide whether or not to hand Hassan over to France. In France, Hassan would face charges for a crime he did not commit, under France's notoriously unfair anti-terrorism laws and in a highly charged climate of Islamophobia.

Canadian extradition law says that the Minister of Justice must refuse unjust and oppressive extraditions. However, this is a highly politicised case and there is considerable pressure to hand Hassan over, despite the glaring weaknesses in the case and despite the very real risk that Hassan will not receive a fair trial in France.

http://yayacanada.blogspot.com/2012/04/canadas-dreyfus-affair-new-developments.html

Flawed Handwriting Analysis

The defence experts agreed that the Paris hotel registration card provides an extremely poor specimen for identification. The quantity of writing on the registration card is very limited (5 words) and the letters are printed in a very simplistic style that makes it almost indistinguishable from the writing of countless people.

Some of the glaring problems the defence experts uncovered in the French handwriting analysis include relying on handwriting specimens that are 15 years apart, comparing printed and cursive writing, comparing letters with numbers, using copies when originals were available, and explaining away significant differences between writings as due to so-called natural variations.

Defence experts were especially critical of the French analyst’s approach to differences between Hassan’s handwriting and the handwriting on the hotel registration card. The number of differences present between the two groups of writing far exceed the number identified by the French analyst, and the presence of just the small group of differences should have caused her to conclude Hassan is not the author of the hotel registration card.

The judge at Hassan’s extradition hearing said that he found the French handwriting report “very problematic”, “very confusing”, and with “suspect conclusions”. The judge likened handwriting analysis to “pseudo-science”, and found merit in the defense argument that the flawed methodology used in the French handwriting analysis results in manifestly unreliable conclusions. Nevertheless, he ruled that Canada’s extradition law does not permit him to apply Canadian standards of evidence admissibility to foreign evidence.

http://www.justiceforhassandiab.org/about

[JohnyCanuck]

1. A sad day for justice in Canada

We are asking you to raise your voice ...

Contributor: "diabsupport"

As you may be aware, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson recently decided to surrender Dr. Hassan Diab to extradition. We are asking you to raise your voice against this unjust decision by writing to your local (or national) newspaper. In your letter, please consider the following points:

►It is shocking that France has not yet charged Hassan or decided whether to put him on trial, meaning Hassan may languish in pre-trial detention for years on mere suspicion while a 32-year-old investigation drags on.

►It is unacceptable that Minister Nicholson did not seek assurances that France will not use anonymous and unchallengeable intelligence - that may be the product of torture - as trial "evidence" against Hassan.

►Minister Nicholson should have sought assurances that Hassan would be allowed to effectively challenge the French handwriting reports, which were found by international experts to be deeply flawed.

►Minister Nicholson should have sought assurances that Hassan would be allowed to present exonerating evidence, such as the fact that his palm and finger prints do not match those of the suspect.

http://yayacanada.blogspot.com/2012/04/sad-day-for-justice-in-canada.html

[Joe Shlabotnik]

2. I hadn't even heard about this case until you posted about it.

Given the scant coverage by our media, and the Conservative's ideological bent, and authoritarian disregard for due process, I fully expect Nicholson to throw him to the wolves.