Afrasianet - The French judiciary decides to release activist Georges Abdallah after 41 years of detention, and his lawyer confirms that the decision is political and US pressure has blocked it for years.
On Thursday, the French Ministry of Justice announced the release of Lebanese activist George Ibrahim Abdullah, after 41 years of detention in French prisons.
Defence lawyer Jean-Louis Chalansett confirmed to Mayadeen that the release will be carried out on July 25th.
He revealed that the United States of America exerted political pressure to disrupt the judicial process, and that the decision to release was political par excellence despite meeting the legal conditions more than two decades ago.
For his part, the Mayadeen envoy to Paris said that the Lebanese embassy in Paris will take measures to transfer George Abdullah to the airport in preparation for his return to Lebanon.
Rola Yahya, a trade unionist and member of the "Proud France" party, said there were fears that the implementation of the release decision would be hindered by Israeli pressure.
Robert Abdullahi, the militant's brother, hoped his brother would be released on schedule without succumbing to any pressure.
Who is George Ibrahim Abdullah?
France's longest political prisoner
Abdallah is one of the oldest political prisoners in Europe, as he was arrested in 1984 in the French city of Lyon on charges of possessing a fake Algerian passport, after being chased by the Israeli "Mossad".
Abdullah joined the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in 1978, co-founded the Lebanese revolutionary armed factions in 1981, and was later accused of participating in the assassination of American and Israeli diplomats.
Charges without evidence according to French memoirs
According to the memoirs of Jacques Attali, an adviser to French President François Mitterrand, it was stated in 1988: "There was no legal evidence against Georges Ibrahim Abdallah except for the forged passport."
However, the court sentenced him in 1986 to 4 years in prison for possession of explosives, before retrying him again on charges of "complicity in terrorist acts" and sentencing him to life imprisonment, charging him with several charges, most notably: establishing Lebanese revolutionary armed factions, assassinating American and Israeli figures.
George Ibrahim Abdullah. In the corridors of the judiciary
In 1999, Abdullah met the conditions for his release set out in the French Penal Code, and in 2003 the parole court decided to release Abdullah. The French Public Prosecution appealed the decision, which hindered his release from prison, and in 2005 the French Public Prosecution opposed any decision to release him, and also in 2006 the French Public Prosecution rejected the request for Abdullah's release, arguing that France's image would be shaken in front of the United States and its allies, and that his deportation to Lebanon did not constitute a guarantee that Repeating the actions he did.
In 2007, Abdullah's lawyer filed his seventh conditional release application, which was rejected on 10 October of the same year, and in 2007 Abdullah appealed the sentence, and the appeal hearing was held on 31 January, when the announcement of the verdict was postponed to 17 April 2008.
In 2013, the Paris Penal Enforcement Chamber approved the eighth release request, linking him to leave French territory. The Public Prosecution appealed, the verdict was suspended, and the French Court for the Enforcement of Sentences rejected the ninth request for parole for Georges Abdallah in 2014.
The court had postponed the decision to release Abdullah after a hearing held on February 20, considering that he must pay part of the compensation to the families of the American and Israeli diplomats, who were assassinated, as a preliminary step to accepting the request for release, which the militant repeatedly rejected, denying the charge of participating in the assassination.
The French Court for the Enforcement of Sentences decided to release Abdullah in a hearing last November, but immediately suspended the execution, following an appeal by the French Anti-Terrorism Public Prosecutor' s Office.