After almost 13 years in custody, including nearly a decade in Guantanamo Bay, where he was once their youngest detainee, Omar Khadr was finally allowed to walk free on Thursday.
A judge at the Alberta Court of Appeal rejected the Canadian Government’s last-ditch attempt to keep Mr Khadr detained and told him that he was free to go on a bail order his lawyer had obtained for him on April 24.
Mr Khadr, a Canadian citizen, was initially detained by American authorities in 2002 at the age of 15 for allegedly having thrown the grenade responsible for killing Sgt Christopher Speer, during a raid by the American military on a house in which he was living in Afghanistan.
Speaking to the press after his release Mr Khadr said, “Freedom is way better than I thought”. Addressing Stephen Harper, under whose leadership the Canadian government has tried to keep Khadr out of Canada he said, “I’m going to have to disappoint him. I’m not the person he thinks I am.”
Mr Khadr had become involved with militant organisations after having moved to Afghanistan in the late 90s with his father, an Al-Qaeda associate, having spent his childhood in Canada. In 2010, after 8 years in the Guantanamo prison, Mr Khadr plead guilty to war crimes causing Sgt Speer’s death and accepted an 8-year sentence.
Despite numerous attempts by the Canadian government to block the repatriation of Mr Khadr, he was finally transferred to a Canadian prison in 2012. Mr Khadr argues that he only made his statement in 2010 because he saw no other way to leave Guantanamo. His time there drew sharp criticism from numerous international actors, both for his status as a child-soldier and for numerous allegations of torture.
He has faced dozens of legal trials and proceedings in both the United States and Canada and his legal battle is not yet over. He is currently on bail while he appeals the decision of a US military court for the murder of Sgt Speer, and the Canadian government has given notice that it plans to challenge the bail order.
See Omar Khadr’s press conference here.
A judge at the Alberta Court of Appeal rejected the Canadian Government’s last-ditch attempt to keep Mr Khadr detained and told him that he was free to go on a bail order his lawyer had obtained for him on April 24.
Mr Khadr, a Canadian citizen, was initially detained by American authorities in 2002 at the age of 15 for allegedly having thrown the grenade responsible for killing Sgt Christopher Speer, during a raid by the American military on a house in which he was living in Afghanistan.
Speaking to the press after his release Mr Khadr said, “Freedom is way better than I thought”. Addressing Stephen Harper, under whose leadership the Canadian government has tried to keep Khadr out of Canada he said, “I’m going to have to disappoint him. I’m not the person he thinks I am.”
Mr Khadr had become involved with militant organisations after having moved to Afghanistan in the late 90s with his father, an Al-Qaeda associate, having spent his childhood in Canada. In 2010, after 8 years in the Guantanamo prison, Mr Khadr plead guilty to war crimes causing Sgt Speer’s death and accepted an 8-year sentence.
Despite numerous attempts by the Canadian government to block the repatriation of Mr Khadr, he was finally transferred to a Canadian prison in 2012. Mr Khadr argues that he only made his statement in 2010 because he saw no other way to leave Guantanamo. His time there drew sharp criticism from numerous international actors, both for his status as a child-soldier and for numerous allegations of torture.
He has faced dozens of legal trials and proceedings in both the United States and Canada and his legal battle is not yet over. He is currently on bail while he appeals the decision of a US military court for the murder of Sgt Speer, and the Canadian government has given notice that it plans to challenge the bail order.
See Omar Khadr’s press conference here.