“I am a fighter, not a criminal”he has been insisting for decades. Imprisoned for 40 years, Georges Ibrahim Abdallah was sentenced in 1987 to life imprisonment for his involvement in the assassination of two diplomats, the American Charles Ray and the Israeli Yacov Barsimentov. At the time, both men had been killed in Paris in 1982 by the Lebanese Revolutionary Armed Fraction (FARL), a pro-Syrian and anti-Israeli group that Abdallah allegedly led in France.
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Although his release has been theoretically possible since 1999, his previous requests had been systematically rejected. An attempt in 2013 failed due to the absence of an expulsion order, the French authorities not having found a country ready to welcome him. This Friday, November 15, justice finally changed its position: the sentence enforcement court granted Georges Ibrahim Abdallah’s eleventh request for conditional release. Although the national anti-terrorism prosecutor (PNAT) has announced its intention to appeal, this decision marks a turning point in the history of one of the oldest political prisoners in France.
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Born on April 2, 1951 in northern Lebanon, Georges Ibrahim Abdallah is a controversial figure. For some, he is a terrorist; for others, he embodies the fight for the Palestinian cause. His career began in the ranks of the Syrian Nationalist Social Party (SSNP), before he joined the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) after the Israeli invasion of South Lebanon. During this conflict, Abdallah also suffered an injury, which helped to forge his legend in the region.
Now aged 73, Georges Ibrahim Abdallah claims several attacks in France, including that against Charles Ray and Yacov Barsimentov, which he describes as acts of resistance against Israeli aggression supported by the UNITED STATES. Arrested in 1984 in Lyon, he was tried and sentenced in 1986 to life imprisonment for his role in the assassination of the two diplomats. Furthermore, French authorities also accuse him of being involved in violent attacks in Europe, including attacks that caused several victims.
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Political pressure on France
In prison, the man built a reputation as an intellectual, as evidenced by the regular visits of Lebanese diplomats and his numerous readings. This image as a defender of the Arab cause is particularly strong in Lebanon, where he enjoys unwavering support from various political movements, notably Hezbollah. In France, it arouses contrasting reactions, oscillating between admiration and rejection. Every year, demonstrations take place in front of his prison in Lannemezan to demand his release.
On the diplomatic level, Lebanese authorities, notably President Michel Aoun, have regularly discussed the Abdallah file with their French counterparts, while the Lebanese Minister of Justice, Marie-Claude Najem, visited him in 2022.
In this affair, the issues are multiple: French domestic politics, Franco-Lebanese relations and perception of France in the Arab world and on the international scene. While France finds itself under diplomatic pressure, the fate of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah could well become a new area of negotiation in Franco-Lebanese relations. The date of his conditional release was set for December 6, on the condition that he leaves French territory.
