Guantánamo

Canada court rejects argument that Khadr was adult offender

Omar Khadr, at age 15, in the summer of 2002, learning to build land mines in Afghanistan, in a photo used as an exhibit by a war court prosecutor at the U.S. Navy base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The prosecution asked a jury to sentence Khadr, now 24, to 25 years. The jury instead gave him 40 but a plea agreement limited his sentence to eight years.
Omar Khadr, at age 15, in the summer of 2002, learning to build land mines in Afghanistan, in a photo used as an exhibit by a war court prosecutor at the U.S. Navy base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The prosecution asked a jury to sentence Khadr, now 24, to 25 years. The jury instead gave him 40 but a plea agreement limited his sentence to eight years. OFFICE OF MILITARY COMMISSIONS

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) – Canada’s Supreme Court has rejected the federal government’s effort to have former Guantánamo Bay prisoner Omar Khadr declared an adult offender.

The Toronto-born Khadr, released on bail in Canada last week, spent 10 years in the U.S. prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. He was returned to Canada in 2012 to serve out an eight-year sentence handed down by a U.S. military commission in 2010.

He was convicted of war crimes, including throwing a grenade when he was 15 years old that killed a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan during a 2002 firefight.

The government argued his sentence should be an adult sentence. The decision will only affect Khadr if he goes back to jail.

Khadr was once the youngest detainee at Guantánamo, arriving there at age 15. He is now 28.

This story was originally published May 14, 2015 at 2:13 PM with the headline "Canada court rejects argument that Khadr was adult offender."

Get unlimited digital access
#ReadLocal

Try 1 month for $1

CLAIM OFFER