A French court has approved the conditional release of Lebanese activist Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, who has been imprisoned for 40 years for allegedly conspiring in the assassinations of two foreign diplomats.
The decision on Friday marks the eleventh request for Abdallah’s release, the National Counterterrorism Prosecutor’s Office confirmed to Agence France-Presse. However, the prosecutor’s office said it would appeal the ruling.
In a statement, the prosecution said: “The Sentence Enforcement Court, in a decision dated today, has granted Georges Ibrahim Abdallah conditional release starting from the 6th of December, on the condition that he leaves French territory and does not return.”
Speaking to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, Robert Abdallah, Georges’ brother, said the family had been notified of the initial decision by their lawyer. He added that there were no further details at this time.
“We have experienced disappointment in the past, as unfortunately France has succumbed to American and Israeli intervention,” Robert Abdallah said. “However, we hope that this time the French judiciary will regain some of its independence.”
“After 40 years of imprisonment, we are cautious about embracing this new reality, and we are trying to avoid emotional responses until things become clear and further action can be taken,” he added.
Georges Ibrahim Abdallah was arrested in 1984 and sentenced to life imprisonment after being convicted of conspiring in the assassinations of American diplomat Charles Ray and Israeli diplomat Yaakov Barsimentov in Paris in 1982. He was also found guilty of attempting to assassinate U.S. Consul General Robert Homme in Strasbourg in 1984.
Abdallah, a member of the Lebanese Communist Party and an alleged leader of the defunct Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Faction (LARF), joined the Palestinian resistance during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1978. He has been eligible for conditional release since 1999, but French judicial authorities have repeatedly denied his requests for release.
Georges Abdallah has consistently denied direct involvement in these acts. He has maintained that his actions were motivated by opposition to injustices, particularly regarding Palestinian rights. He testified, “I do what I do because of the injustice done to human rights where Palestine is concerned.”
