French court to rule on freeing Lebanese Georges Abdallah

A French court is set to deliver a long-awaited ruling in July on the release of pro-Palestinian Lebanese militant Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, who has been imprisoned for 40 years for the 1982 killings of two foreign diplomats.

The Paris appeals court, initially set to deliver its verdict in February before postponing, will now announce its decision on July 17 after re-examining the request on Thursday.

"I told the judges, either you release him or you sentence him to death," his lawyer Jean-Louis Chalanset told the media after the closed-door hearing.

Abdallah, 74, was sentenced to life in prison for his involvement in the murders of U.S. military attaché Charles Robert Ray and Israeli diplomat Yacov Barsimantov.

He has been eligible for release for 25 years, but has seen multiple requests for his freedom denied.

The United States, a civil party to the case, has consistently opposed his release but Lebanese authorities have repeatedly said he should be freed from jail.

In November 2024, a French court ordered his release conditional on Abdallah leaving France.

But France's anti-terror prosecutors, arguing that he had not changed his political views, appealed the decision which was consequently suspended.

Abdallah has always insisted he is a "fighter" who battled for the rights of Palestinians and not a "criminal".

The appeals court said in February the decision to postpone was prompted by the unresolved question of whether Abdallah had proof that he had paid compensation to the plaintiffs, something he has consistently refused to do.

His lawyer said on Thursday he presented documents showing some 16,000 euros ($18,360) in Abdallah's prison account "at the disposal of civil parties".

First detained in 1984 and convicted in 1987 over the murders, the 74-year-old is one of the longest serving prisoners in France -- most convicts serving life sentences are freed after less than 30 years.