About the episode
In October 1980, a motorcycle packed with explosives went off outside a Paris synagogue, killing four and wounding nearly four dozen others. French investigators gathered evidence the attack was planned by a Palestinian militant group, but the trail for the bomber went cold for years. Twenty-eight years after the attack on Rue Copernic, French authorities accused a Canadian sociology professor of Lebanese descent of planting the bomb. Hassan Diab proclaimed his innocence, saying their evidence was flawed and circumstantial. It spawned a diplomatic crisis, as Canadian judicial authorities also questioned whether Diab should be turned over to France for trial.“The Copernic Affair” from Canadaland and House of Many Windows re-examines the controversial terrorism probe. Hosts Dana Ballout and Alex Atack talk to victims, investigators, and Diab himself to make sense of how an unassuming academic with a common name was accused of a horrific crime four decades ago. Is Hassan Diab guilty of an unspeakable act of political violence? Or is he a scapegoat for a failed investigation?OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE COPERNIC AFFAIR" BEGIN IN THE FINAL NINE MINUTES OF THE EPISODE. For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon.Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com.
