The trial relating to the 1980 bombing of a synagogue in Paris – that killed four and left dozens injured – has opened in the capital. Hassan Diab, the Canadian academic accused of the attack, is being tried in absentia.
The special Paris assize court, which has jurisdiction over terrorism cases, has begun examining the so-called rue Copernic bombing 43 years after it occurred.
Four people were killed and 46 wounded when a bomb attached to a motorcycle exploded outside a synagogue on rue Copernic in the west of Paris on the evening of 3 October, 1980, as people were celebrating the Jewish festival of Simchat Torah.
It was the first deadly attack on the Jewish community in France since World War II.
The sole defendant is 69-year-old Canadian academic Hassan Diab.
He is not expected to appear at the trial and the court will therefore try him in absentia on charges of murder, attempted murder and destruction of property as part of a criminal conspiracy.
Long legal process
The trial represents the latest stage in a 15-year legal process that started with Diab's arrest by the Canadian police (RCMP) in 2008, at the request of France, which was seeking his extradition for allegedly planting the bomb near the synagogue.
French prosecutors relied on evidence linking his handwriting to that of the suspected bomber.
Lebanese-born Diab was extradited to France from Lebanon in 2014 and spent 38 months in prison, mostly in solitary confinement, on charges of first-degree murder.
Diab has always maintained his innocence, saying he was in Lebanon taking university exams at the time of the bombing. Several witnesses, as well as university documents, support his claim.
He was never brought to trial, was released in 2018 without charge, and moved back to Canada.
In 2021, however, France's court of appeal overturned the lower court decision.
A long ordeal
France has not sought Diab's extradition for the Paris trial, but asked him to return voluntarily.
He declined, according to a spokesperson for the Hassan Diab Support Committee in comments made to Canada's Global Mail online.
Civil parties regret Diab's absence but insist the trial must go ahead after more than four decades of waiting and judicial turnabouts.
"It's a good thing that even 43 years later justice is shown to be done," said lawyer Bernard Cahen, adding that it marked "the end of a very long ordeal," for the victims.
No group has ever claimed the bombing but it has been attributed to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - Special Operations (PFLP-SO). France claims Diab was a member of that group and allegedly assembled and detonated the bomb.
Amnesty International rights group has described the trial as "baseless and flawed".
If found guilty, Diab faces life imprisonment.
A verdict is expected on 21 April.
