OTTAWA — Describing the death threats he's received in jail, Hassan Diab testified at a bail hearing Thursday he'd abide by any conditions — including wearing an electronic bracelet and adhering to a curfew — if only he can leave detention.
Diab, 55, was arrested last November in connection with the 1980 bombing of a Paris synagogue in which four people died. He is charged with murder in France.
He is awaiting an extradition hearing to determine whether he must face those charges.
"I am in the protective custody area, because of the trouble I've faced in the general population," said Diab, a small, slim man who taught sociology at the University of Ottawa and Carleton University. "I felt I was threatened . . . Death threats, like 'You're dead!' Those kinds of things."
But Crown prosecutor Claude Lefrancois painted a picture of him as likely to flee Canada to avoid extradition: a frequent traveller with ties to many countries and an unstable relationship with his common-law wife, Rania Tfaily.
On the stand, Diab described his childhood in Lebanon, where he was born Nov. 20, 1953, his university studies in sociology in Beirut, his move to the United States in 1987, and his string of teaching positions in the U.S., the Middle East and Canada over the past decade. He moved to Ottawa in 2006.
But just a few months later, in January 2008, he became the target of RCMP surveillance.
Preceding Diab on the stand, RCMP Cpl. Robert Tran testified that Diab sometimes employed "counter-surveillance techniques" when he was being followed. These techniques included U-turns, multiple lane changes and switching clothing items.
Diab said he believed he was being followed by "foreign elements," and never imagined his pursuers could be Canadian police. He said he called 911 and the Ottawa Police Service many times, to no avail.
Diab intends to live with Tfaily if he is granted bail, and she would be his main surety — the person responsible for making sure that he meets his bail conditions and attends his court dates. Diab described his relationship with Tfaily as solid.
But under cross-examination, Diab admitted he had an affair with another woman, Faten Faour, in 2008, and did not confess the affair to Tfaily until after he was arrested in November, 2008.
Diab agreed with the prosecutor he has travelled widely and has lived in six countries in the past 12 years: Canada, the U.S., Kuwait, Lebanon, Britain and the United Arab Emirates.
However, he also testified that he does not currently hold a valid passport, and that he would be willing to agree not to apply for one as part of his bail conditions.
The defence will be calling character witnesses Friday, the third day of Diab's bail hearing.