Lebanon braces to receive Georges Abdallah on July 26 after 41 years
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The campaign to free Georges Abdallah confirms no legal hurdles remain, as Lebanon prepares a public reception after 41 years of his detention in France.
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A poster reading "Freedom for Georges Abdallah" is placed near razor wire on the gate outside the prison in southern France on October 25, 2014 (AFP)
The National Campaign to Free Georges Abdallah has confirmed that there are no remaining legal barriers preventing the release of the Lebanese resistance fighter, who has spent over 41 years in French prisons.
This statement follows an appeal filed by the Paris prosecutor’s office challenging a July 17 decision by the Court of Appeal to release Abdallah. However, Abdallah’s legal team told Al Mayadeen that the appeal will not affect the outcome, stressing that all legal conditions for his release have been fulfilled.
Speaking during a press conference in Beirut on Wednesday, attorney and campaign spokesperson Fidaa Abd al-Fattah declared that Georges Abdallah's continued detention is no longer a legal issue but a matter of "clear political will" from the French authorities.
Saturday set for popular reception in Beirut
Robert Abdallah, Georges’ brother, called on supporters to join a public reception planned for Saturday between 12:00 and 14:00 in Beirut, saying it should reflect the resilience shown by Abdallah during his four-decade-long imprisonment.
Georges Abdallah, 74, was arrested in 1984 and has remained in detention since, despite multiple parole decisions that have been blocked due to political opposition from French and US authorities. The most recent ruling from the French Court of Appeal on July 17 grants his release, with expectations that he will return to Lebanon this Saturday.
Who is Georges Abdallah?
Abdallah, a former member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), has so far served 41 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 maintains innocence
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.
