French court postpones verdict on Georges Abdallah to July 17
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Originally expected in February, the verdict was delayed and reconsidered during a closed-door hearing on Thursday.
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Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, a Lebanese activist in prison (Undated, X photo)
A French appeals court has postponed to July 17 its long-anticipated ruling regarding the possible release of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, the Lebanese activist and revolutionary who has spent over four decades imprisoned in France, 25 of those years described by legal experts and human rights advocates as unlawful detention.
Originally expected in February, the verdict was delayed and reconsidered during a closed-door hearing on Thursday. Abdallah’s lawyer, Jean-Louis Chalanset, told reporters, “I told the judges, either you release him or you sentence him to death.”
Abdallah, 74, has long been eligible for release under French law. In November, an enforcement court ruled in favor of his release, concluding that he “no longer poses a serious threat if released.” However, the decision was frozen following an appeal by France’s national anti-terrorism prosecutor, delaying what supporters say is long-overdue justice.
The upcoming session follows a February 20 hearing that was postponed when the court ruled that Abdallah must first pay part of the compensation awarded to the families of the American and Israeli diplomats assassinated in Paris in 1982. Abdallah has consistently rejected this demand, insisting he had no involvement in the assassinations, a stance he and his defense team have maintained throughout his imprisonment.
Speaking to Al Mayadeen, Abdallah’s attorney, Jean-Louis Chalanset, expressed cautious optimism ahead of the hearing, noting that there has been “some progress” on the contested compensation issue. “There is a glimmer of hope,” he said.
According to Al Mayadeen, the defense informed the court that Abdallah currently has €16,000 in his bank account, without specifying the origin of the funds, potentially signaling a willingness to satisfy the court’s precondition, or at least challenge it on legal grounds.
Who is Georges Abdallah?
Abdallah, a former member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), has so far served 40 years in prison, which makes him the longest-held prisoner in Europe.
He founded the Marxist-Leninist Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Factions (LARF), which claimed responsibility for four operations in France during the 1980s.
The Lebanese revolutionary was accused of taking part in the assassination of US military attache Charles Robert Ray and Israeli diplomat Yacov Barsimantov in 1982 and was sentenced on these accusations.
Abdallah never responded to the list of accusations and considered that the French judicial system was "despicably" taking the resistance action out of context.
At his trial for the alleged killing of the diplomats, Abdallah was handed a life sentence, significantly harsher than the 10 years sought by prosecutors. His lawyer, Jacques Verges, called the sentence a "declaration of war."
Abdallah maintains that he is a "fighter" advocating for Palestinian rights, not a "criminal".
He became eligible for parole in 1999, but all previous applications were denied, except in 2013, when his release was conditioned on expulsion from France.
However, then-Interior Minister Manuel Valls refused to implement the order, keeping Abdallah in prison.
