Evidence Allowed

OTTAWA — The man accused of a 1980 Paris shul bombing failed last week in a last-ditch effort to have handwriting evidence against him disallowed in his ongoing extradition hearing. Hassan Diab, a former University of Ottawa sociology lecturer, is accused by France of bombing the Rue Copernic synagogue, in which four people died and dozens of others were injured. Since his 2008 arrest, the dual Lebanese-Canadian citizen has said he’s a victim of mistaken identity. Diab’s lawyer has produced three handwriting specialists to contradict French expert testimony that said his signature matches one in a Paris hotel register. Lawyer Donald Bayne said the evidence would be accepted without question in France. But the judge said that while the French evidence was inconsistent, it would violate extradition agreements to apply Canadian standards to it.

Winnipeg Limmud

WINNIPEG — Limmud: Festival of Jewish Learning is coming to Winnipeg for the first time this week. The event, organized by a number of Jewish groups, including the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg, will be held March 12 and 13 at the Asper Jewish Community Campus. Among the presenters are award-winning U.S. journalist and author Lisa Alcalay Klug and York University Jewish studies professor and CJN columnist Martin Lockshin. The Limmud concept began in England in 1980 and has spread around the world. For details, visit www.limmudwinnipeg.org.

Murder Case Arrest

VANCOUVER — An 18-year-old was arrested Feb. 20 for the murder of 15-year-old Delta, B.C., resident Laura Szendrei in a local park last fall. The teen was attacked Sept. 25 in a wooded area while on her way to meet friends and succumbed the next day to her injuries. There was no indication she was attacked because she was Jewish, the Jewish Independent reported, nor was there any evidence she knew her attacker, who was 17 when the murder occurred and therefore can’t be named by law, police said.