Defence lawyer Donald Bayne launched a blistering attack on the extradition case against Hassan Diab Tuesday, claiming there is no evidence that the former University of Ottawa professor was even in France the day he is alleged to have planted a bomb outside a Paris synagogue.
Bayne accused Crown prosecutors Jeffrey Johnston and Claude LeFrancois of presenting to the court “complete guesswork in the absence of evidence” and of “hop scotching around details in an effort to make a case.”
The Lebanese-born Canadian is wanted for murder and attempted murder by Paris police for his alleged role in the bombing of a synagogue in the French capital in October 1980.
Diab, 57, says he is the victim of mistaken identity.
Crown lawyers, acting for French authorities, allege that Diab assumed the name of fictitious Greek Cypriot Alexander Panadriyu and entered France from Spain on a false passport.
They allege that Panadriyu bought a motorcycle to use in the bombing and stayed in a hotel where he engaged the services of a prostitute.
There is clear evidence, said Bayne, that the man who bought the motorcycle and the man who stayed in the hotel were two different people and neither was Diab.
There is conflicting witness evidence of Panadriyu’s appearance and age in 1980 — most notably that the motorcycle purchaser had long blond hair and the “hotel Panadriyu” was dark-haired and about 45 years old, almost 20 years older than Diab was at the time.
While there is ample evidence that two separate individuals checked into the hotel and bought the motorcycle, prosecutors have been unable to make the required prima facie case that Diab is either of them, said Bayne.
“There is no evidence that in his life Diab ever had long blond hair,” said Bayne.
LeFrancois claims that Diab entered Spain days before the bombing — a fact not disputed — and left several days afterwards after taking part in the bombing.
The only real evidence, said Bayne, is that Diab was in Spain but there is no evidence he went to France.
