Alberta judge grants bail to Omar Khadr
Posted Apr 24, 2015 01:40:24 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Almost 13 years after American soldiers captured him as a grievously wounded 15-year-old boy in Afghanistan, Omar Khadr is on the verge of freedom.
An Alberta judge granted him bail today, calling Khadr a model prisoner who presents a low risk to public safety.
But while Khadr’s supporters were overjoyed at the unprecedented decision, a “disappointed” federal government immediately announced it would appeal any interim release for the former Guantanamo Bay inmate.
Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney says “we have vigorously defended against any attempt to lessen his punishment.”
The Harper government has branded Khadr a hardened terrorist.
In her ruling, Court of Queen’s Bench Justice June Ross found that Khadr has a constitutional right to apply for bail pending his appeal of five war-crimes convictions before a widely discredited American military commission.
There was no immediate word from the U-S State Department.
Ross did say Khadr would have to remain behind bars at least until May 5th while terms of his release are hammered out.
One of Khadr’s lawyers says “Omar is fortunate to be back in Canada where we have real courts and real laws.”
The Toronto-born Khadr is currently in the medium-security Bowden Institution in Innisfail, Alberta, where he is serving out an eight-year sentence handed down by the military commission in Guantanamo Bay in 2010.
The now 28-year-old has said he only pleaded guilty to the war crimes he was accused of committing as a youth to get out of Guantanamo and be sent back to Canada.
