‘A legal and political victory’: French court orders release of Georges Abdallah

The following article was posted by the News Desk at The Cradle (thecradle.co) on Nov. 15, 2024.  French news sources project that Abdallah is scheduled to be released on Dec. 6.

A French court ordered on Nov. 15 the release of Lebanese resistance fighter Georges Abdallah, who was arrested nearly 40 years ago over the killings of a U.S. military envoy and [an] Israeli diplomat in Paris.

“In (a) decision dated today, the court granted Georges Ibrahim Abdallah conditional release from December 6, subject to the condition that he leave French territory and not appear there again,” the prosecutors said on Friday.

Abdallah, a former member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Factions (LARF), was given a life sentence in 1987 on charges of involvement in the killings of U.S. military attaché Charles Ray and Israeli diplomat Yakov Barsimentov in Paris in 1982.

The Lebanese resistance icon was also accused of involvement in the attempted assassination of U.S. Consul General Robert Homme in Strasbourg, [France].

He was detained in 1982 and was the longest-held prisoner in western Europe. The U.S. had consistently stood against his release. This was his 11th bid for release, as all previous attempts following his eligibility for parole in 1999 were rejected.

France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor said it would appeal against Abdallah’s release.

The killings of Ray and Barsimentov were claimed by [the] LARF and framed as a response to Washington and Tel Aviv’s involvement in the Lebanese civil war.

Israel was heavily affiliated with Lebanon’s civil war, which began in 1975 and officially ended in 1990. Tel Aviv backed right-wing Christian militants in Lebanon who were fighting the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and other Lebanese factions at the time.

Israeli troops officially invaded Lebanon in 1982 after having established a buffer zone in the south of the country in 1978. The occupation lasted until 2000, when south Lebanon was liberated by Hezbollah.

Abdallah has become an icon of the Lebanese-Palestinian struggle against Israel since his imprisonment.

His lawyer Jean-Louis Chalanset told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the release marks “a legal and a political victory.”

“After 40 years of detention, we are taking our time to confront the new reality and are trying to avoid entering into emotional states until things become clear and the necessary consequences are built upon,” Abdallah’s brother told Al-Araby al-Jadeed.