A French court has ordered the release of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, a pro-Palestinian Lebanese fighter who has spent 40 years in prison for his involvement in the killings of two foreign diplomats in France during the early 1980s.
The Paris Appeals Court ordered on Thursday that Abdallah, 74, be freed from a prison in southern France on July 25 on the condition that he leave French territory and never return, as announced by his lawyer Jean-Louis Chalanset at the end of the hearing.
The activist’s lawyer reflected on the years of relentless efforts to prevent Georges Ibrahim Abdallah’s release, stating, “At the last hearing, the Prosecutor’s Office even sided with the United States to argue against setting him free. That’s why it’s a great joy to see him finally returning to Beirut. He is the longest-serving political prisoner in Europe, and from the very beginning, this entire trial was politically orchestrated.”
Abdallah, who has never expressed regret for his actions, has always insisted he is a “fighter” who battled for the rights of Palestinians and not a “criminal”.
The Paris court has described his behaviour in prison as irreproachable and said in November that he posed “no serious risk in terms of committing new terrorism acts”.
Georges Abdallah, a Lebanese communist and long-time activist for the Palestinian cause, was arrested in 1984 and convicted in 1987 for complicity in the murder of two diplomats.
His conviction came amid what many have described as a flawed investigation, intense media pressure, and strong influence from the United States. Although he became eligible for release in 1999, it wasn’t until 2013 that a court first approved a conditional release, one that was ultimately blocked by the French state due to the absence of an expulsion order.
On November 15, 2024, the Court for the Execution of Sentences authorized Abdallah’s release, effective from December 6, 2024, without requiring an expulsion order but with the condition that he leave French territory. For the first time, his release was not tied to a deportation order from the Interior Ministry.
However, the Paris Court of Appeal on Thursday ruled on the appeal filed by the anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office against the decision to release Georges Ibrahim Abdallah.
La France Insoumise – Nouveau Front Populaire (LFI-NFP),a Left-wing parliamentary group in the French National Assembly, welcomed the decision, highlighting the release of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah “marks a powerful and symbolic victory for the anti-colonial movement.”
They observed that it upholds the “historic” decision by the Tarbes Sentence Enforcement Court on November 15, 2024, which acknowledged that the release of this tireless defender of the Palestinian cause should no longer depend on political discretion after forty long years of imprisonment.
“Today, French justice has stood firm against the pressure of a fanatical U.S. administration, a party to the case, which has been marked throughout the proceedings by outrageous submissions and insulting arguments,” said the statement issued by the group.
They said France is “finally honoring its international commitments regarding so-called life sentences, in line with European human rights law,” adding that “at a time when the pro-Palestinian movement is under intense political and judicial repression, especially in France, while genocide continues in Gaza and Israeli colonization expands with global indifference,”
“May he finally reunite with his family and loved ones,” the group hoped, “and continue his political struggle in a free and sovereign Lebanon.”
The Palestinian Prisoners Network, in a statement, expressed “immense joy” at the announcement, adding that “this decision cannot be complete, however, until he has arrived in Lebanon, on his land, surrounded by comrades, loved ones, and family. He, whose flame of resistance has never been extinguished, despite the relentless efforts of France and its allies.”
The network acknowledged that “throughout these more than 40 years of imprisonment, Georges Ibrahim Abdallah has stood as a symbol of struggle and determination for entire generations of activists,” many of whom “have come of age in political engagement with his name in their hearts and have mobilized to demand his release.”
Even after decades behind bars, they noted, “Georges Abdallah remains a living symbol of the resistance of peoples against imperialism, colonialism, and Zionism, an uncompromising resistance that refuses to yield in the face of its enemies.”
His unwavering stance, they added, “has proven vital for the movement in support of the Palestinian people and their resistance over the past decades.”
“The political responsibility Georges Abdallah has carried over four decades behind bars reflects the unique role of revolutionary prisoners everywhere,” said the Palestinian Prisoners Network, adding “This includes the over 10,800 Palestinian prisoners, especially the incarcerated leaders of the resistance, who continue to embody the frontline of their people’s struggle.”
As the news of Abdallah’s impending release is met with celebration, the Network also called attention to the suffering of thousands of Palestinian detainees, stating “Our hearts and minds remain torn,” they said, “as we think of the more than 10,800 Palestinian prisoners enduring starvation, illness, violence, isolation, and sexual assault in Zionist prisons. We remember the 73 prisoners martyred since October 7, and the over 700 Palestinian bodies held in morgues and numbered graves, denied dignity even in death.”
They emphasized that Abdallah’s liberation is not an isolated event, but part of a larger struggle, “Every liberation of a revolutionary prisoner who refused to compromise, even after decades of incarceration, is a promise of future victory,” they said, “It offers hope, justice, and the dream of better days for those whose lives and futures have been torn apart by colonial violence.”
“We extend our most heartfelt thanks to the generations of comrades who have carried this struggle, those who are no longer with us, and those who continue to march, chant, organize, and believe,” emphasising that “This is a collective victory, a triumph for the entire movement. Let it be the foundation for further victories, until Palestine is free, from the River to the Sea.”
