Terrorism charges against Hassan Diab, a former University of Ottawa professor, have been dropped by French authorities.
The Lebanese-Canadian was arrested by RCMP in November 2008 and extradited to France in 2014. He has spent the last three years in prison after being charged with first-degree murder in a 1980 Paris synagogue bombing that killed four people.
Diab, 64, denied involvement, maintaining he had been in Lebanon at the time of the attack.
Eight previous attempts to free him failed when his bail request was denied by French judges.
His Canadian lawyer, Donald Bayne, confirmed Friday that he was no longer under suspicion and the judges have declared the investigation closed. Bayne also said the investigation’s evidence proved Diab’s innocence.
“His supporters never lost faith, it was a matter of when,” Bayne told Radio-Canada Friday morning.
Diab is not in the clear yet.
He is currently in a maximum security prison outside Paris, Bayne explained, adding he has yet to speak with Diab because his client is only allowed out of his cell one hour a day.
“We have to be frank and recognize there have been appeals that have reversed their decisions before,” Bayne cautioned. “We’ll have to wait and see but certainly this is an important decision.”
No details on his release or return to Canada have been confirmed yet.