French court orders pro-Palestinian Lebanese activist freed after 40 years

A French court has ordered the release of pro-Palestinian Lebanese activist Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, who had been imprisoned for 40 years in France.  

The Paris Appeals Court ruled on Thursday that the 74-year-old Abdallah could be freed from a prison in southern France on July 25, provided that he leaves French territory and never returns.

Abdallah is expected to be deported to Lebanon. He has been one of the longest-serving prisoners in France, as most individuals serving life sentences are released after less than 30 years.

Abdallah was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1987 for his involvement in the 1982 murders of United States military attache Charles Robert Ray and Israeli diplomat Yacov Barsimantov in Paris, as well as the attempted murder of US Consul General Robert Homme in Strasbourg in 1984.

His lawyer, Jean-Louis Chalanset, described Abdallah as the longest-held political prisoner in Europe. 

"He has never renounced his convictions," Chalanset stated, noting that US authorities had pressured the Paris court to deny Abdallah's release request. "So this is also a political victory, even after nearly 41 years in detention, against the United States."

Abdallah’s brother, Robert Abdallah, expressed relief to reporters in Lebanon on Thursday, asserting that his brother had been unjustly imprisoned for decades in France due to US and Israeli influence. 

“We’re delighted. I didn’t expect the French judiciary to make such a decision or for him to ever be freed, especially after so many failed requests for release,” he said. “For once, the French authorities have freed themselves from Israeli and US pressures.”

Chalanset welcomed the court's decision, calling it "both a judicial victory and a political scandal" that Abdallah was not released earlier.

While prosecutors have the option to appeal to France’s highest court, the Court of Cassation, it is unlikely that the appeal will be processed quickly enough to prevent his release next week.

Abdallah has been eligible for release for 25 years, but the US, a party to the case, has consistently opposed his departure from prison.

Lebanese officials have repeatedly advocated for Abdallah's release, affirming their intention to facilitate his return to Beirut.

Abdallah has persistently maintained that he is an activist fighting for Palestinian rights, rather than a “criminal.”

He continues to receive support from various public figures in France, including members of parliament and Nobel Prize-winning author Annie Ernaux.

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In recent months, several pro-Palestinian activists have been imprisoned across the US and several other Western countries for attending rallies and raising their voice against Israeli crimes in Gaza.

The US and several European countries have thrown their unconditional support behind the ongoing Israeli brutal military campaign in the Gaza Strip.

On Wednesday, the International Criminal Court (ICC)’s judges ruled that the tribunal’s arrest warrants for the Israeli regime’s prime minister and his former minister for military affairs would stand, defying overwhelming Israeli and American pressure.

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The judges dismissed the requests on Wednesday concerning the warrants that had been issued last November for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip.

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