Georges Abdallah: court orders parole after forty years in prison

Pro-Palestinian activist Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, imprisoned for four decades, had his eleventh application for parole accepted by the sentence enforcement court on Friday November 15. This former Lebanese schoolteacher, sentenced in 1986 to life imprisonment for complicity in the assassination of two diplomats, an American and an Israeli, had theoretically been eligible for release since 1999.

The National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office (Pnat) confirmed this decision, but immediately announced its intention to appeal, temporarily suspending the measure. According to the court, the conditional release will take effect on December 6, and includes an obligation for Georges Abdallah to leave French territory permanently.

A release 25 years in the making

Considered by his supporters as “the world’s oldest prisoner linked to the Middle East conflict”, Georges Abdallah is incarcerated at the Lannemezan penitentiary in the Hautes-Pyrénées region. His previous requests for release had all been rejected, with the exception of one in 2013, which was conditional on a deportation order never implemented by the then Minister of the Interior, Manuel Valls.

Georges Abdallah’s lawyer, Jean-Louis Chalanset, hailed the decision as “a legal victory and a political victory”. Unlike 2013, which had been conditional on a deportation order never implemented by the then Interior Minister, Manuel Valls.

Georges Abdallah’s lawyer, Jean-Louis Chalanset, hailed the decision as “a legal victory and a political victory”. Unlike in 2013, this release is not subject to the prior issuance of a deportation order, which is a major step forward for his defenders.

A career marked by war and political struggle

In the 1980s, when Lebanon was ravaged by civil war, Georges Abdallah co-founded the Lebanese Revolutionary Armed Factions, a pro-Syrian, anti-Israeli Marxist group. These militants had claimed responsibility for several attacks in France between 1981 and 1982, including five fatal ones.

Despite his prolonged incarceration, Georges Abdallah’s case remains at the heart of political and diplomatic debate, with some citing outside pressure, notably from the United States, to prevent his release.