Perspective: Extradition Nightmare For Canadian… Diab Age 64 …

Francois, a state lawyer advised the French state lawyers … he assisted France to wrongfully extradite Canadian man for a bombing he was innocent of in France.  The National, a CBC flagship programme, highlighted the investigation last night May 1, 2018. Hassan Diab is the victim. He went through hell and back to tell the tale.

Presumed Guilty

Extradition suspects are shipped off on shaky evidence even as prosecutors and state attorney Generals et al know they are no on solid ground.  This is a rape of the judicial system.  The principle of presumption of innocence is shifted to being presumed guilty and the burden of proof is on the accused to prove their innocence.  An almost impossible threshold to climb up to as the cards are stacked against the accused.

Jamaica

This rape of the judicial system as it relates to extradition seems to be a disease that has transcended borders.  “There was an alleged unlawful extradition of one Storyteller Morrison who was sent to the USA on dubious extradition grounds. Today we have Muslim  cleric who has been ordered extradited. But his appeal has a 15 days window before its expiration.  The appeal is being done by his attorney who already gave verbal notice. There are at least two other cases in Jamaica in which there is doubt about the integrity of these extraditions. Alas! There is a third case already done, in the extradition to the United States of Christopher Coke aka “Dudus” okayed by Former Senator the then Hon. Dorothy Lightbourne, Justice Minister and Attorney General.  She recently told Vision’s SIC that “Coke’s extradition as everyone knows  was politics.”  What a shame, disgrace and a rape of our judicial system.

If Lightbourne is to be taken seriously then we have a serious problem on our hands.

Foreign governments apparently just have to send a request from overseas … it’s almost like signing a blank sheet of paper and on the strength of the Treaty they mutually inked, they send say Mr. Brown to the requesting country because they have a Treaty agreement to extradite … to face trial there. Little attention is paid on the seriousness of the evidence or the Integrity of the evidence or probably there is no evidence of a credible nature at all.  This is so bizarre, but from all the evidence at hand, it could just be so.

Canadian Hassan Diab

Hassan has said that his job is to now do something about the “lousy” extradition treaty that Canada has signed. The Canadian authorities seem warm to the idea of reviewing the extradition treaty. Canada,  wrongly extradited  Hassan who spent about three years in solitary confinement in a French jail on terrorism related charges.

Mental Anguish

It is a nightmare … imagine  coming back after 3 years in solitary confinement in France to now live life over. It is like life has been put on hold for these last three years. The  emotional and psychological damage is irreparable.  Hassan seems to have weathered the mental anguish well. He appears to have no bitterness.

The Evidence

Dubious identification of handwriting sample seems to be the smoking gun. Better put the quick sand foundation for his extradition. Really now!

Will someone be held accountable for this debacle? The buck stops at PM Justin Trudeau’s office. What is your perspective? This is ours.

Hopeton O’Connor-Dennie SiC, is a keen observer of injustice and matters legal has filed this perspective for Vision Newspaper.