A Palestinian man who has lived in Norway since 1991 was charged this week with alleged participation in a terrorist attack on a Jewish restaurant in Paris in August 1982. His Norwegian defense attorney claims he had nothing to do with it, but he was ordered held in custody pending extradition to France.
French police claim the attack in Paris, left six people dead and 22 wounded, was carried out by the Abu Nidal terrorist organization. Two of its former members reportedly identified the Palestinian-Norwegian as a former fellow member of Abu Nidal in connection with their own plea-bargaining agreements.
Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reported that court proceedings in Oslo revealed how French police have built their case against the Palestinian-Norwegian based on the testimony of the two former Abu Nidal members who also identified two others, one living in Jordan and the other in Palestinian territory.
Defense lawyer Ole-Martin Mæland told NRK that the case is “problematic” because Norwegian criminal law “doesn’t operate with plea bargaining or offer amnesty like they do in France.”
The man was arrested by Norway’s police intelligence unit PST in accordance with a new Norwegian-European arrest agreement that took effect last year. It has eased and speeded up extradition of Norwegian and European citizens who allegedly have broken laws in other EU countries.
newsinenglish.no staff
