Omar Khadr will not have his bail conditions relaxed, an Edmonton justice decided Friday.
Justice June Ross called his current conditions reasonable and said “they should continue while Mr. Khadr is on bail.”
Now 32, the former Guantanamo Bay detainee asked to be able to travel to Toronto without approval of his bail supervisors, and to make court appearances related to a civil lawsuit filed by the family of an American soldier who was killed in the Afghanistan fight in which Khadr was captured. He also wanted unsupervised conversations with his sister and a Canadian passport to make the hajj to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, a pilgrimage considered obligatory for practicing Muslims.
On bail since May 2015, Khadr has had to contact his bail supervisor when wanting to leave Alberta.
His sister Zaynab, who now lives in the Europe-Asia border country Georgia, has spoken favourably of al-Qaida and was previously investigated by Canada for helping the terrorist network. Khadr’s contact with her was to be supervised.
“The evidence does not indicate a current hardship arising from bail conditions,” Ross said.
Khadr’s lawyer, Nathan Whitling, told CTV News, “We’re going to review the decision and consider our next steps.”
When Khadr was 15, Americans captured him after a firefight that killed a U.S. soldier. He was sent to Guantanamo Bay.
He was awarded $10.5 million by the Canadian government after the Supreme Court ruled his rights were violated while in U.S. captivity and that Canada played a role.
Although he pleaded guilty for war crimes in 2010, he is appealing that conviction. The U.S. process has been stalled.
On Friday, Whitling said, “The time the American courts are taking to deal with Mr. Khadr’s appeal is preposterous. This sort of situation could never occur in Canada.”
Khadr’s conditions could be reconsidered if he needs to travel for an emergency.
With files from Sarah Plowman and The Canadian Press
