Lebanon's George Abdallah again asks the French judiciary to release him

Lebanese national Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, one of the oldest prisoners in France, sentenced to life imprisonment for his involvement in the assassination of an American diplomat and an Israeli diplomat in 1987, has filed a new request for release, according to his lawyer's announcement on Tuesday.

A judicial source confirmed that the request was submitted on June 8th to the court in charge of executing anti-terrorism judgments.

Lawyer Jean-Louis Chalansy stated that "it is necessary to release one of the oldest political prisoners in Europe" after spending 39 years behind bars.

According to French law, Abdallah, currently 72 years old, became eligible for release in 1999, but all nine parole requests he submitted were rejected, with the last one being in 2015.

Abdallah fears for his safety if released and prevented from leaving France. He, therefore, requests to be expelled to Lebanon.

In 2013, the judiciary approved his release on the condition that he be subjected to a decision of expulsion issued by the French Ministry of the Interior, which was never issued.

In 2020, Abdallah made a similar attempt with the current Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, but his messages remained unanswered.

His defense team attached to the new request for "release and expulsion" a letter from the Lebanese authorities, pledging to take responsibility for him upon his release and facilitate his transfer to Lebanon, as confirmed by his lawyer.

No date has been set yet for considering the request, and it is not expected to be reviewed before a period ranging from six months to 18 months, as the procedures require the applicant to undergo a series of evaluations and receive the opinion of a multi-disciplinary committee.

In late May, 28 leftist deputies signed an open letter calling for Abdallah's release, who many consider a "hero" in Lebanon.

His lawyers and supporters believe that there is an American role in keeping him detained until now.

In 1987, the former head of armed revolutionary factions in Lebanon was sentenced after being convicted of complicity in the assassination of two diplomats, one American and the other Israeli. He was among the main perpetrators of the wave of attacks that hit France in the early 1980s.

Lebanon was in the midst of a civil war (1975-1990) when Abdallah participated in the founding of these factions, a Marxist group allied with Syria and hostile to Israel, which claimed responsibility for five attacks that killed four people in France in 1981 and 1982. He was arrested in Lyon on October 24th, 1984, and was sentenced to life imprisonment after being convicted of complicity in the assassination of the American diplomat Charles Ray and the Israeli diplomat Yakov Barsimentov in Paris in 1982, and the attempted assassination of the American Consul General Robert Homme in Strasbourg in 1984.

 

 

 

 

 

AFP