(AFP) A Paris court on Friday sentenced a Lebanese-Canadian sociology professor to life in prison in absentia for the 1980 bombing of a synagogue in the French capital that left four people dead.
The court followed the prosecutors’ request for the maximum possible punishment against Hassan Diab, now 69 and a resident of Canada, a decision that was met with silence in court.
Some victims and their families could be seen embracing at the end of three weeks of proceedings during which the suspect’s box remained empty throughout.
Prosecutors had said in their closing arguments Thursday that there was “no possible doubt” that Diab, the only suspect, was behind the attack.
Diab, speaking to reporters in Ottawa, called the verdict “Kafkaesque” and “not fair.”
