Page 14 - William Bourdon News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

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.

Hassan Diab and his supporters say guilty verdict in fatal 1980 Paris attack amounts to a ‘wrongful conviction’.

Lebanese-Canadian professor Hassan Diab was convicted in absentia of a 1980 Paris synagogue bombing, for which a French court handed down a life sentence.

Hassan Diab, 69, a Lebanese-Canadian, is the only person ever accused in connection with the 1980 blast, which took place outside a Copernic synagogue in Paris and killed four people.

The 1980 bombing was the first deadly attack against a Jewish target on French soil since World War II.