Some graduate students at Carleton University are demanding sociology professor Hassan Diab be reintstated.
He was fired this week by the Ottawa university after France said he was behind a 1980 synagogue bombing in Paris that killed four people.
Carleton’s own department of sociology and anthropology is also demanding Diab be reinstated, in a letter on behalf of its 42 faculty members.
And Diab’s union has launched a grievance against Carleton for cancelling Diab’s $4,600 summer contract with no explanation.
PhD student Nick Falvo, vice-president of the Graduate Students’ Association, says to fire someone with no notice sets a dangerous precedent.
He says if Diab is connected to the bombing, he should be brought to justice — “but he is innocent until proven guilty so Carleton should reinstate him and apologize.”
B’nai Brith vice-president Frank Dimant penned a scathing statement earlier this week condemning Carleton for hiring an accused terrorist, and Thursday welcomed his firing as “a step in the right direction.”
Carleton officials said they replaced Diab to provide a “stable, productive academic environment that is conducive to learning.”
Diab taught part-time for both the University of Ottawa and Carleton until France named him last fall as the suspected bomber, and he was arrested by Canadian authorities.
He was granted bail in March and he is awaiting a hearing as to whether Canada should release him to France, which plans to charge him with murder. He has denied any role in the bombing.
