Court nixes government request to keep Omar Khadr in prison
Posted May 7, 2015 10:22 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
EDMONTON – The federal government has lost its bid to block former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Omar Khadr from being released on bail.
Alberta Court of Appeal Justice Myra Bielby ruled the government had not proven that allowing him out now would harm Canada’s international treaty obligations or pose a safety risk.
Her ruling comes after Tuesday’s last-ditch attempt by Ottawa to keep the 28-year-old Khadr behind bars.
A lower court judge had granted Khadr bail last month while he appeals his war crimes conviction in the United States.
Khadr is now expected to be released later today under conditions that include wearing a tracking bracelet.
It will be his first taste of freedom in almost 13 years _ since his capture as a wounded 15-year-old in Afghanistan in July 2002.
from he Canadian Press
