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Canada professor convicted in absentia gets renewed attention from right over 1980 Paris attack

Guardian
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Hassan Diab was convicted in absentia for carrying out a deadly bomb attack on a Paris synagogue in 1980 .

He has consistently maintained his innocence, claiming he was in Beirut at the time of the bombing.

In January , Elon Musk reposted an X post about Diab by Pierre Polievre , leader of the country’s federal Conservative party.

Musk added a remark: “A mass murderer is living free as a professor in Canada ?”.

Hassan Diab was sentenced to life in prison in absentia after being extradited to France in 2012 .

He spent more than three years in Paris without trial and was released from prison.

Diab 's appeals failed and he was sent back to Canada in November 2014 .

But the French judges’ decision was successfully appealed, and arrangements were made for a fresh trial in April 2023 .