A special criminal court in France sentenced the sole defendant in the case of the bombing of a Jewish synagogue that occurred 43 years ago in Paris. The judiciary says the defendant’s "changing" and "unreliable" explanations were not convincing even though he was previously released due to insufficient evidence.

After 43 years since the attack on a synagogue on Copernic Street in Paris, the special criminal court issued its verdict on Friday (April 21, 2023) against the sole defendant in this assault, the Lebanese-Canadian Hassan Diab (69 years old) - who was tried in absentia and asserts his innocence - sentencing him to life imprisonment.

Arrest warrant

After three weeks of sessions and eight hours of deliberations, the special criminal court in Paris sentenced this university professor to the maximum penalty and issued an arrest warrant against him.

For his part, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded to the verdict in a press conference: "We will carefully consider the next steps that the French government and French courts will choose to take. But we will always be there to defend Canadians and their rights."

The prosecution had requested a life sentence, the only "reasonable" penalty against Diab, saying there is "no doubt" that he carried out this anti-Semitic attack which claimed the lives of four people (three French and one Israeli woman) and injured 47 others.

For their part, the defense demanded acquittal for their client and urged the five judges to "avoid a judicial error."

William Bourdon, Hassan Diab’s lawyer, said after the verdict: "Getting an acquittal for one of the most serious attacks, even if the case is very fragile... in this country, has become an impossible task."

Intelligence information

Diab is the only person accused of the bombing that targeted the Jewish synagogue on Copernic Street and resulted in the death of four and dozens injured on October 3, 1980.