Counsel For The Defence

Former part-time University of Ottawa Professor Hassan Diab has much to lose, he must obviously feel, if he is extradited to France, as per the request to Canadian authorities of French judicial authorities. French judicial authorities who are convinced that they are in possession of evidence sufficiently stable and useful to mark this man as a prime suspect in the bombing of the Copernic synagogue in Paris, in 1980.

This crime of terrorism, meant to convey to the Jewish diaspora that no Jew is safe as long as Israel 'occupies' territory that Palestinians and the greater Arab community within the Middle East are determined to recapture, for as far as they are concerned Israel exists as an unlawful entity and peace and good order will not be restored until and unless 'Palestine' is once again in the hands of Palestinian Arabs.

Who will, under a newly-established sovereign state of Palestine, where once stood Israel,and incorporating the other two-thirds of the territories, permit Jews who traditionally lived in the area as the original "Palestinians", to reside there still, under the aegis of a new Palestinian government. They would, of course, be elderly and presumably quiescent. All other Jews must decamp for they will not be welcome under this new state administration.

That is an ongoing story, underwriting the two-state solution which appears on the surface of this intractable problem, which gives a veneer of legitimacy to the 'struggle' of the Palestinians to achieve that which should be theirs by right-of-birth-and-prior-occupation. Ever since the State of Israel became a reality, its neighbours have attempted every type of violent assault to dislodge it from the geography.

The establishment of the Palestine Liberation Organization by its former head, Yasser Arafat, was just one additional tool of conflict and combat in a guerrilla war to convince the Jewish State it had no business residing in the Middle East. Most Palestinians applauded the work of the PLO, and many joined its ranks. Either to support it by force of arms, or to be part of what appeared to be a new and effective political movement.

One that was dedicated not to diplomacy, offering an attempt at compromise bringing potential solutions to the conflict to result in a fair and just division of the contested land, but to violence. As part of that violent outlook meant to lead irrevocably to wearying the enemy's conventional army by the tactics of an elusive guerrilla force that could melt easily into the greater civilian population that supported it, the front was widened beyond the Middle East.

France now, with the tenacious determination of a particular terrorism specialist, Marc Trévidic, a 45-year-old French examining magistrate, is convinced it has all the evidence it requires to launch a credible trial against Lebanese-Canadian Hassan Diab. Mr. Diab has continuously expressed his innocent, shocked disbelief that he would be targeted, claiming total innocence, complete non-involvement in the bombing.

His defence lawyer, Donald Bayne, has implicit trust in the veracity of his client's statements of innocence. And in pursuit of his goal of persuading Justice Maranger of the innocence of his client, has cast aspersions on the French judicial system, Justice Trévidic, and the quality and sources of the evidence gathered to be used in a trial, should Mr. Diab be extradited as requested, despite the best efforts of his defence counsel.

Someone impersonating Lawyer Donald Bayne has been going about writing scathing comments on blogs, imputing odd motives to people watching the unfolding events, and relieving themselves of their opinions, as is common to a society that values freedom of expression. Someone by the name of "Donald", feels free to label bloggers 'liars', when they disagree with his singular version of events. As per the following:

"Although Mr. Diab has strenuously and repeatedly denied ever being a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a PLO offshoot, his family did inform investigators that they had all belonged." (A direct quote from the blog being commented upon titled "Origins of Evidence", posted on "Politic", 12 November 2010.)

YOU are a blatant lier. No such allegation exists anywhere. This is purely your own invention. It appears you wish to follow in the footsteps of the Grand Inquisitor (Trevidic) by making things up. I challenge you to provide one iota of evidence that anyone in Hassan Diab's family has ever stated that they are a member of PFLP. Do you not have even one shred of decency? If you really care about the victims of Copernic then you should give a damn about the truth. Sadly, it appears you do not care about either. (And so ends the diatribe. But because the blog's author could not verify what had been repeated, and not verbatim, from memory, the offending statement was removed.)

One might think that Donald Bayne, defense attorney for Mr. Diab would be horrified, were he to become aware that someone might be impersonating him, trolling the Internet to find views that he found offensive, and vigorously commenting on them, insisting people are "liers" (wonder if that's anything like being a liar?), and challenging the writer's sense of decency?

One might also feel that it is precisely because the truth is being sought that Mr. Diab should return to France to stand trial; if he is innocent he will be a free man once again. Sadly, this "Donald" who withholds his full identity from scrutiny, appears not to care about either the truth or the yet-haunted victims of the Copernic synagogue bombing who desperately seek closure to their nightmare.

And for those who might be interested in pursuing the little drama being carried out in a downtown Ottawa court of law, the series of very interesting articles written by The Ottawa Citizen's Chris Cobb might make good reading - for any who missed their appearance, last week. A link appears below. On the other hand, the writer of this blog thought that in response to the accusations leveled by "Donald", a few sentences written by Chris Cobb might pique interest:

Trévidic’s interest in the Copernic case was apparently spurred by information unearthed in police files of the former East Germany.

His hands-on approach to investigation is articulated, according to French newspaper Le Monde, by a sign in his office: “Assis, debout, mais pas couché” (“Sitting, standing, but not lying down”).

“When I take on a case,” he said, “I reread everything from A to Z and create spreadsheets to capture any existing paths and any that may not have been uncovered.”

One uncovered path led him to Lebanon, where he apparently found and interviewed Diab’s father, sister and friends from his youth.

According to lawyer Bernard Cahen, Diab’s friends said they were all members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which was not illegal.

Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Paris+blast+Part+Investigation/3792139/story.html#ixzz15CTHIR8v