Khadr Sentenced To 40 Years By Military Tribunal

[Sharpshooter]

Not only a lawyer but he was a combat soldier as well in Iraq as well.

I remember reading a bio on John Diefenbaker and how early in his legal career the hanging of one of his clients convicted of murder whom he had no doubt was innocent haunted him for the rest of his life. It was that memory that made Dief an opponent of capital punishment (contrary to the majority of the Conservative party at the time and his own Cabinet) and led him to commute the death sentence of 14 year old Steven Truscott when he was Prime Minister and who was exonerated some 48 years later.

[Sharpshooter]

You Don't Like the Truth: A teenager, a locked room and the ugly truth

Rick Groen

From Friday's Globe and Mail

Seeing is believing, the cliché insists, but none of us saw what actually happened on that July day in 2002 the day that would eventually bring a then 15-year old Canadian boy, Omar Khadr to the forefront of the world's headlines. So the cliché has given way to its far more significant converse: Believing is seeing.

How we've come to view the Khadr case, how we sift through the hard evidence and the soft speculation contained in the stories beneath those headlines, is largely determined by our preexisting set of beliefs. Armed with their beliefs, fulminators on both sides keep loudly sounding off: He's a tortured child trapped in a legal black hole; he's a murdering terrorist lucky to be alive.

By now, I know where I stand, you know where you do, and there's nothing in this documentary, no new irrefutable revelation, likely to change our position. That doesn't mean the film lacks value. Quite the opposite. The value doesn't necessarily lie in the sympathetic portrait painted of Khadr obviously, some will be pleased by that depiction, others not. But everyone should be thankful, if not for the doc's content, then certainly for its tone there is no fulminating here. Instead, courtesy of Canadian co-directors Luc Côté and Patricio Henriquez, witnesses are quietly gathered and arguments are quietly made. For once, no one rants, and, in the relative calm, the tone can be heard, so muted and sad.

The title, You Don't Like the Truth, is a direct quote from Khadr and, at the time, also stood as his declaration of innocence. The time was February, 2003, which brings us to the subtitle: 4 Days Inside Guantanamo. That's when a CSIS agent arrived from Canada to "interview" and videotape Khadr in his Cuban prison. Ten minutes of that seven-hour tape have already been made public, but this is our first chance to look at a more extensive selection, to "see" for ourselves the colloquy between a teenage boy and his professional interrogator.

It's not a pretty sight. Indeed, as the kid is left alone in the room to weep, to literally tear at his hair, and to chant "Kill me, kill me, kill me" in a liturgy of despair, a former director general of Canadian consular Affairs, Gar Pardy, is moved to conclude: "These interviews are basically a continuation of his torture."

Pardy is just one of many who comment on the tapes as the footage unspools. Others include Bill Graham, our ex-Foreign Minister; Khadr's mother and sister; his cellmates at Guantanamo, since released with no charges laid; U.S. military lawyers and psychiatrists and, most dramatically, an American intelligence soldier who admits to torturing an already wounded Khadr at the Bagram base in Afghanistan. They are a diverse bunch, to be sure, yet with a shared conviction: All agree that the accused has been cruelly treated, abandoned by his own country, and grossly deprived of justice.

Still, it's the tapes themselves that form the spine of the documentary. Again and again, we are returned to them, and what emerges says a little about the interrogated boy but a whole lot more about the interrogating man. Quite simply, the CSIS agent seems appallingly bad at his job. Always accompanied by a CIA colleague, he's there not to assist Khadr but solely to accuse him, to extract an admission of guilt and other counter-terrorist information.

Fine. But even granting the legality of his mission (and that's a whole other topic for debate), the professional comes off as a rank amateur. His questions are essentially statements; he doesn't listen, at least to anything beyond what he wants to hear; his mind is firmly closed and already made up. In short, for him too, believing is seeing the guy is just another fulminator, better suited to the world of politics or column-writing.

Of course, the headlines have continued through this very week, when, in a plea-bargain brokered by politicians, and at a tribunal that isn't a trial, Khadr changed his declaration from innocence to guilt. That altered plea might serve him better. Some might argue that it even serves justice. But here's the tragedy. No one, not even Khadr's most florid accusers, will think that it serves the truth that complex commodity remains at large, as elusive and unlikable as ever.

[Perfect From Now On]

haven't been following this too closely, what were the results of the sentencing hearing on tuesday?

[Sharpshooter]

haven't been following this too closely, what were the results of the sentencing hearing on tuesday?

[Perfect From Now On]

Khadr has pleaded guilty to throwing a grenade that killed an American soldier, Christopher Speer, in that firefight, and to planting roadside bombs (the plea deal notes that, after his capture, he gave their locations, and that they were removed without hurting anyone). His Canadian lawyer presented the plea as a hard choice, but one that would get him out of Guantánamo. The deal would reportdly give him one more year in Guantánamo and seven in Canada; the hearing now can lower that number, but not raise it.

Read more http://www.newyorker...l#ixzz13j86ObQF

The sad thing is that this isn't getting much play in the U.S.

But the 'New Yorker' magazine did a good piece on it.

[Sharpshooter]

ok that's as much as I already knew, I read the OP. I thought I heard though that the sentencing hearing was this past tuesday and we would be informed of the exact details of the sentence, and then we could start speculating about the action to be taken once he is returned to Canada.

[Sharpshooter]

Khadr sentencing hearing adjourns for day

Last Updated: Friday, October 29, 2010 | 11:51 AM ET

CBC News

Omar Khadr's sentencing hearing at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, adjourned unexpectedly Friday morning as jury members were dismissed shortly before 10 a.m. ET.

There had been speculation that Khadr would be sentenced on Friday.

On Monday, Khadr pleaded guilty to murdering a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan in 2002 and four other crimes, including attempted murder, conspiracy, providing material support to terrorists and spying.

Instead, Friday's hearing lasted less than an hour.

Defence lawyers used the time to enter into evidence an unsworn statement by Khadr in which he admits he initially lied to U.S. interrogators in Afghanistan after his capture in 2002. According to the statement, Khadr, then 15, stopped lying after U.S. soldiers told him a story about an Afghan boy who, because he lied, was sent to an American prison and raped there by fellow inmates.

-snip-

The hearing is now scheduled to resume on Saturday morning. Lawyers on both sides of the case are expected to present their closing arguments. After that, the seven-member jury panel will be sent to deliberate Khadr's sentence.

Khadr's guilty pleas are part of an agreement reached by him, his lawyers and prosecutors. In exchange, his lawyers have said he will receive an eight-year sentence. After serving a maximum of one year at Guantanamo Bay, he will be eligible to apply for a transfer to a Canadian prison. He has been held at Guantanamo since 2002.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2010/10/29/omar-khadr-sentencing.html#ixzz13m5G7bL3

[Polish Eagle]

So he wants to be out and do noble things like be a doctor? Doesn't sound very sincere to me. He should have at least admitted that he made wrong decisions or got involved with the wrong people, and doesn't wish it upon anyone else to go through what he had to go through.

[Sharpshooter]

So he wants to be out and do noble things like be a doctor? Doesn't sound very sincere to me. He should have at least admitted that he made wrong decisions or got involved with the wrong people, and doesn't wish it upon anyone else to go through what he had to go through.

[Sharpshooter]

'World is watching' as military jury weighs Khadr sentence

U.S. NAVAL BASE GUANTANAMO, Cuba —A military jury has begun deliberations to decide whether Omar Khadr is a murderer and terrorist who only expressed remorse at the 11th hour, or a talented young man who was used by al-Qaida and who deserves to be given a “first chance” in Canada.

Prosecution and defence lawyers delivered their final arguments Saturday at the military war-crimes tribunal at Guantanamo Bay. A seven-member jury of military officers will now decide what length of sentence they will recommend for Khadr.

It is believed that Khadr’s plea deal with the U.S. government limits his sentence to eight years. His sentence would only change if the jury recommends a lighter term.

But the jury’s recommendation could influence how Khadr’s crimes are eventually perceived in Canada, where he hopes to be transferred as soon as a year from now.

Military prosecutor Jeff Groharing conceded as much Saturday, telling the jury the “world is watching.”

“Make no mistake, the world is watching. Your sentence will send a message,” Groharing said.

This week, Khadr pleaded guilty to five war crimes, including the murder of Sgt. First Class Christopher Speer.

Groharing said the U.S. government recognizes Khadr was 15 when he threw the grenade that killed Speer after a firefight between al-Qaida militants and U.S. special forces in Afghanistan on July 27, 2002.

But the prosecution argued Khadr should ultimately be held responsible, noting he was given a chance to leave the firefight with women and children. “It was Omar Khadr who made the decision to kill,” Groharing told the jury.

But the defence said Khadr, who was born in Toronto but moved to Afghanistan with his family as a child, had been “misled” by his father into joining an al-Qaida terrorist cell. Khadr’s late father, Ahmed, was believed to have been a senior al-Qaida financier who mingled with Osama bin Laden and other leaders.

“This case is about giving Omar Khadr a first chance, because he’s never had it,” one of Khadr’s military-appointed lawyers, Lt.-Col. Jon Jackson, told the jury.

“Send him back to Canada. Let him start his education and career. There’s going to be no good for him here. Send him home.”

As he said this, Jackson showed the jury a photo of Khadr when he was a fresh-faced boy of 15, a much different picture from the grown man with full beard who sat in court Saturday.

In its closing argument, the prosecution said Khadr shouldn’t be considered a “soldier,” because he was a member of al-Qaida, a terrorist organization that fights for a religion rather than a country, and doesn’t respect the international laws of war.

Groharing said Khadr shouldn’t be able to use his age at the time of his crimes, or the fact he was influenced by his family in joining al-Qaida, as “excuses” for his actions.

Khadr took the stand himself this week to apologize to Speer’s widow, Tabitha, for the “pain” she and her family had suffered. Speer was 28 when he died; his daughter, Taryn, was three and his son, Tanner, was nine months old.

But Groharing said there was no evidence that Khadr had shown any remorse “before he sat before the seven people who will determine his fate.”

Groharing said the victims in the case were Speer’s family and friends. “Let’s make something very clear,” he told the court. “Omar Khadr is not the victim in this case.”

Groharing defended the testimony of Dr. Michael Welner, the forensic psychiatrist who interviewed Khadr over two days and concluded he is “highly dangerous.” Welner consulted many sources and conducted extensive research on the “deradicalization” of Muslims, Groharing noted.

But Jackson said Welner’s entire testimony should be discounted, because of his heavy reliance on the work of Danish psychologist Nicolai Sennels, who has called on Western countries to shut the door on Muslim immigrants.

Jackson said Welner’s entire “framework” for assessing Khadr’s risk was based on a book written by Sennels called Among Criminal Muslims, based on interviews by Sennels of Muslims held at a youth prison. Welner never read the book, because it was in Danish, and instead spoke to Sennels by phone.

Jackson showed quotes to the jury in which Sennels urges a “complete halt” to Muslim immigration, calls the Qur’an a “criminal book,” and says roughly half of Muslims are inbred.

Jackson noted that, after reading such quotes this week, Welner said he was even more impressed by Sennels’ work.

Jackson agreed Khadr shouldn’t be seen as the victim in the case. But he argued that Khadr had been brainwashed by al-Qaida, which “uses kids” to fight U.S. forces in violation of international war conventions.

Jackson acknowledged Speer was a “hero,” but also noted that he had signed up to fight like other U.S. soldiers. “That’s what happens in war: soldiers die,” Jackson told the jury.

English Prof. Arlette Zinck told the jury this week she would write a recommendation for Khadr to attend King’s University College, a small Christian college in Edmonton. Jackson said the college would be a good place for Khadr to rehabilitate.

Instead of apologizing to Speer’s widow, Khadr could have got up on the stand and told the jury he “hates America,” Jackson argued.

The defence lawyer asked the jury to consider the fact that Khadr, who was initially held at the highest-security camp at Guantanamo but was later transferred to a camp for “compliant” prisoners, had shown encouraging signs of reform.

Jackson asked the jury to consider who committed the crimes. “It was the Omar Khadr of 2002, and the Omar Khadr of 2010 is a different person,” he said

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/World+watching+military+jury+weighs+Khadr+sentence/3752441/story.html#ixzz13rtIjY75

[Wetcoaster]

The Canadian government seems more preoccupied with justice for American soldiers than for our own soldiers.

It seems the only way to get any action is to use the media to shame the Harper government into action.

To wit - the cases of:

Cpl. Stuart Langridge; and

Sean Bruyea (retired Captain and war veteran in the Canadian Forces)

A Victoria mother fighting Ottawa for respect to be paid to her son — a model soldier in the Canadian Forces before he developed post-traumatic stress disorder and committed suicide — won her two-year battle Friday.

After Sheila Fynes went public with her story Thursday, she received a phone call from Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Walter Natynczyk and Friday she had a personal meeting with Defence Minister Peter Mackay.

After a decade of exemplary service, Cpl. Stuart Langridge, 28, developed symptoms of the stress disorder and depression upon returning from Afghanistan.

He attempted suicide six times and turned to drugs and alcohol. In March 2008, he hanged himself in the barracks at CFB Edmonton.

His death was followed by a litany of mistakes by the Department of National Defence that took the family more than two years and $12,000 in legal bills to correct. Some of the mistakes remain outstanding.

Last month, Fynes' persistent calls to the Defence Department to ask it to return her son's pension contributions to his estate were stonewalled. On Sept. 21, the department sent her a legal letter forbidding her from calling government offices.

Mackay said that was "unacceptable" and vowed to resolve the problem.

"If Stuart is looking down he would be pleased that we stood up for him," Fynes said. "He felt humiliated and ashamed and he had no hope. I heard it in his voice the day before he died."

The family could be given the Memorial Cross in honour of their son by Remembrance Day, said Fynes after her meeting with Mackay. "It says [symbolically] you were a person of worth and you were loved."

Victoria NDP MP Denise Savoie, who took the family's fight to Ottawa, said she's cautiously optimistic all of the mistakes made after Langridge's death will be corrected now and that the soldier and his family will be duly honoured.

"He died in the service of this country as a casualty and I think that's important to recognize," Savoie said from Ottawa.

Before Langridge killed himself he wrote his family a letter telling him he loved them but he could no longer withstand the pain he was feeling.

He said he felt ashamed and he didn't deserve a fancy funeral.

http://www.theprovince.com/news/Soldier+tarnished+memory+finally+gets+overdue+respect/3752402/story.html#ixzz13rrnmuBe

And former Captain and first Gulf War veteran Sean Bruyea had his name besmirched and private medical records divulged because he had the temerity to challenge the manner in which Veteran's Affairs was treating former service personnel. Do not criticize Veteran's Affairs or they will smear you by any and all means possible.

And when he testified before a Parliamentary committees in 2005 - appearing before a Senate hearing May 11 and before a Commons committee on June 1, that kicked the scummy little rats at Veteran's Affairs into panic mode. How best to discredit this guy? Hey how about saying he is mentally unstable and toss him into a mental institution - yeah that should work:

Weeks after an Ottawa man appeared before a parliamentary committee to criticize Veterans Affairs' handling of benefits for retired soldiers, department bureaucrats concluded he was "clearly unwell" and worked to have him sent to a hospital for a psychiatric assessment.

In a July 2005 briefing note, Veterans Affairs bureaucrats said that Sean Bruyea had become a "very vocal advocate" for retired soldiers and had criticized the department on a number of high profile issues. They worried that he had become unwell and put together a plan to have him sent to Ste. Anne's Hospital near Montreal for a medical and psychiatric assessment.

Documents also reveal that department officials had already pre-determined what the assessment would likely find. Bruyea would be required to get rid of his own psychotherapist, who had raised concerns that Veterans Affairs bureaucrats were targeting the Gulf War soldier, and then take on another specialist.

Bruyea, who suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome and depression, said at the time he had been invited by Veterans Affairs officials to come in "for a chat." He was asked not to bring his own doctors to the meeting.

"I smelled a rat so I told them I couldn't go," said Bruyea, who only found out about the Veterans Affairs plan when he received a copy of the department briefing note through the Access to Information law. "I think they wanted to show me as mentally unstable and if they could do that, then no minister would ever listen to me again."

http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Soldier+parliamentary+appearance+call+psych+assessment/3686936/story.html

When his complaints received no satisfaction from the government he turned to the Privacy Commissioner for help.

Air Force veteran Sean Bruyea choked with emotion Thursday as he declared "five years of hell" over, after the privacy commissioner vindicated his claim that Veterans Affairs Department officials used his personal medical and financial files to try to discredit him.

Bruyea said the "morally disgusting" violations of his privacy warrant a government apology, financial compensation and the firing of at least three Veterans Affairs officials.

The privacy commissioner found Bruyea's personal medical and financial records -- including details of medical appointments and treatment plans -- were shared by an array of officials and presented to cabinet ministers in briefing notes about his advocacy on behalf of veterans.

...

"What we found in this case was alarming," (Federal Privacy Commissioner Jennifer) Stoddart said in a statement.

"The veteran's sensitive medical and personal information was shared -- seemingly with no controls -- among departmental officials who had no legitimate need to see it. This personal information subsequently made its way into a ministerial briefing note about the veteran's advocacy activities. This was entirely inappropriate."

...

"In addition to describing the complainant's advocacy activities, the briefing note contained considerable sensitive medical information, including diagnosis, symptoms, prognosis, chronology of interactions with the department as a client, amounts of financial benefits received, frequency of appointments and recommended treatment plans," she said.

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Privacy+breached+report/3642004/story.html#ixzz13rtMqd5W

In the wake of the damning report from the Privacy Commissioner, Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn Blackburn refused to apologize, saying Bruyea's case is before the courts. Bruyea is suing three Veterans Affairs public servants and the government for $100,000 each. However the media kicked up a storm.

It was then reported that the Prime Minster's Office was informed four years ago about "security breaches" of confidential information, as well as harassment directed toward Bruyea for being critical of Veterans Affairs.

But hey the PMO was not aware how bad it was... maybe because it chose to not actually look into the allegations?? The PMO officials now claim the prime minister is very concerned about how Bruyea's files were handled but claim out that the full extent of the misuse of Bruyea's personal information was not known at the time he approached the PMO. Well DUH! In law we call that wilful blindness.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/knew+about+security+breaches+government+documents/3718128/story.html

As a result the government folded like a cheap suit when they saw a no-win situation and PM Harper was now righteously indignant.

Not only would Sean Bruyea now be issued an official apology from the federal government but Blackburn vows head will roll at Veteran's Affairs (one assumes the three named officials in Bruyea's law suit at a minimum). So Minister what about that pending lawsuit - you know the one that prevents you from apologizing?

Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn issued the apology and instituted fast-track mediation to settle a $400,000 lawsuit out of court. The apology comes a little over two weeks since Canada's privacy commissioner found an "alarming" dissemination of the 46-year-old retired air force intelligence officer's files, including psychiatric reports sent to cabinet ministers by Veterans Affairs officials.

http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Government+apologizes+Gulf+veteran/3726220/story.html#ixzz13s1s7Zaa

And how did Sean Bruyea learn of the apology?

Bruyea first found out about the apology in a press release, just weeks after he revealed the privacy breach to the media.

“It's a very nice pizza but it's been delivered a bit cold,” he said Monday morning.

“I think (the apology) could have been delivered live ... deliver it to me personally.”

After that was reported by the media, Blackburn was scrambling again:

By early evening, Bruyea got a more personal apology when Blackburn called him directly.

“I recognize that this information sharing has caused you needless suffering and anxiety, and for that the government and I are truly sorry,” Blackburn said in a written statement.

“I was very troubled to learn that personal information concerning you was shared among public servants who had no need for this information in order to do their work.

“I also extend my sincere regrets to anyone who may have gone through the same situation.”

And Bruyea is concerned the mediated settlement will be used as yet another strategy to try to muzzle him. Bruyea says he hopes the government won't push for a confidentiality clause as they move to speed up the mediation on a lawsuit he's filed.

“They shouldn't be able to achieve by money what they couldn't achieve by intimidation and breaking the law, which is to shut me up,” Bruyea said.

Veterans Ombudsman Pat Stogran says the apology isn't enough to fix the veterans system.

“This is the tip of the iceberg and for some reason the government seems reticent to actually dig in and fix things for veterans,” he said.

Canadian soldiers put their lives on the line and this is the thanks they get?

The moral of the Khadr, Langridge and Bruyea stories? Until you publicly embarrass the Harper government, use the media to bring pressure to bear and hold their feet to the fire do not expect them to do the right thing.

[Sharpshooter]

I thoroughly enjoyed the pizza metaphor.

The moral of this story is that this farcical 'military tribunal' of a government, has little to no scrupples nor morals. How can you embarass that which has no shame to begin with? They wouldn't know what the right thing was even if it was shoved down their throats...which is generally how they found out about it.

The Harper gov't would be comical if the ramifications of it decisions weren't so tragic and revolting. I suppose before the elections, media pressure and public accountability is all that we have in our arsenal. For the time being, it'll have to do...but there will a reckoning. This gov't cannot escape and talk their way out of that eventuality. I look forward to it.

[Wetcoaster]

So the sentence handed down by the illegal miltary tribunal is not unexpected - 40 years.

Omar Khadr has been sentenced to 40 years in prison by a military jury at Guantanamo Bay.

However, under a plea deal with the Pentagon, Khadr will only spend at most another eight years behind bars.

The seven-member jury of military officers handed down the decision Sunday after more than eight hours of deliberations, writing one of the final chapters in the politically charged legal saga of Khadr, a Canadian who’s been held in U.S. custody since he was 15.

After announcing the jury’s recommended sentence, Col. Patrick Parrish, the presiding judge, told Khadr that after serving another year in U.S. custody, he could apply to be transferred to Canada.

The Canadian government responded quickly but cooly to news of the sentence, calling the plea deal “a matter between the U.S. government and Omar Khadr.”

Khadr "would be treated like any other Canadian who applies for a transfer,” said Melissa Lantsman, a spokeswoman for Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon, adding that no decision would be made or speculated upon until that time.

Khadr, now 24, pleaded guilty last week to five war crimes, including the murder of Sgt. First Class Christopher Speer, who died after a firefight between al-Qaida and U.S. forces in Afghanistan on July 27, 2002.

In their final arguments this weekend, prosecution and defence lawyers had offered starkly different portrayals of the Toronto-born Khadr. The prosecution painted him as an unrepentant murderer and terrorist, while the defence argued he was a promising young man who was used by al-Qaida and deserves a second chance in Canada.

The prosecution had asked for a sentence of at least 25 years. If convicted on all counts without a guilty plea, Khadr would have served life. The jury was given a binder with roughly 200 pages of documents to consider.

Before delivering its sentence Sunday, the jury asked to review the testimony of Capt. Patrick McCarthy, who worked as a senior legal adviser to the Guantanamo prison complex between 2006 and 2008. During that time, he frequently visited the prison camps and spoke with Khadr.

McCarthy testified that Khadr was always respectful and courteous, and showed no “outward signs” of radicalism.

“My opinion is that Mr. Khadr does have rehabilitative potential,” McCarthy told the court.

Under cross-examination by the prosecution, McCarthy conceded he wasn’t aware of reports by prison guards that Khadr had called one guard a “stupid bitch,” and been overheard talking about an “uprising” involving Osama bin Laden.

However, McCarthy argued Khadr’s young age at the time of his crimes should be taken into account, as well as the fact his father influenced his joining of al-Qaida.

“Fifteen-year-olds, in my opinion, shouldn’t be held to the same standard of accountability as adults,” McCarthy said.

On Saturday, government prosecutor Jeff Groharing told the jury the world was watching its decision.

Groharing said the U.S. government recognizes Khadr was 15 when he threw the grenade that killed Speer. But the prosecution argued Khadr should nonetheless be held responsible, noting he was given a chance to leave the firefight with women and children.

“It was Omar Khadr who made the decision to kill,” Groharing told the jury.

The defence argued Khadr, who was born in Toronto but moved to Afghanistan with his family as a child, had been “misled” by his father into joining an al-Qaida terrorist cell. Khadr’s late father, Ahmed, was believed to have been a senior al-Qaida financier who mingled with Osama bin Laden and other leaders.

“This case is about giving Omar Khadr a first chance, because he’s never had it,” one of Khadr’s military-appointed lawyers, Lt.-Col. Jon Jackson, told the jury.

“Send him back to Canada. Let him start his education and career. There’s going to be no good for him here. Send him home.”

Jackson showed the jury a photo of Khadr when he was a fresh-faced teenager, a much different picture from the grown man with a full beard who sat in court Saturday.

The Harper government has steadfastly refused to discuss the possibility of repatriating Khadr, even as the sentencing hearings drew to a close.

The Khadr sentence is a significant landmark for the Guantanamo war-crimes tribunal, created in 2002. He is the fifth person convicted at Guantanamo, but the first charged with murder in violation of the laws of war. Khadr is also the first convicted for crimes committed as a juvenile.

Before sending the jury away to deliberate, the judge told them they could consider a range of factors, including Khadr’s age, education, level of maturity, and the eight years he has served at Guantanamo. They could also consider the death and injury he caused, his potential for rehabilitation and the danger he represents to society.

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Canadian+Omar+Khadr+slapped+with+year+prison+sentence+Guantanamo+jury/3755148/story.html#ixzz13ybZ53Yl

[stawns]

So he wants to be out and do noble things like be a doctor? Doesn't sound very sincere to me. He should have at least admitted that he made wrong decisions or got involved with the wrong people, and doesn't wish it upon anyone else to go through what he had to go through.

[Wetcoaster]

How was his decision any different than the American soldiers decision to join the military and participate in the illegal, unprovoked invasion of a sovereign country? This whole deal is disgraceful and disgusting.

[Sharpshooter]

That probably took 7:59 hours longer than they needed. Those officer's of the jury are complicit in the show trial. I expected a sentence of about 30 years...so, this is no surprise.

And a big laugh from me, at the 'Honourable' Mr. Cannon, hiding behind a skirt......friggin chickenhawk.

At least this part is done and over with. The Harper gov't's fancy footwork will now begin....i can't wait to see the pretzels coming out of this Parliament, over the course of the next 12 months.

[Wetcoaster]

How about this statement made in final argument:

"Omar Khadr was a lawful target in that fight but he didn't have the right to fight back."

Military prosecutor? Nope Khadr's own US military appointed defence lawyer - Lt.-Col. Jon Jackson.

And what sentence did the prosecution ask for 25 years... and he gets 40 years. What an absolute travesty.

[SlayerS_BoxeR]

How about this statement made in final argument:

"Omar Khadr was a lawful target in that fight but he didn't have the right to fight back."

Military prosecutor? Nope Khadr's own US military appointed defence lawyer - Lt.-Col. Jon Jackson.

And what sentence did the prosecution ask for 25 years... and he gets 40 years. What an absolute travesty.

[Wetcoaster]

I totally get that.

[Sharpshooter]

How about this statement made in final argument:

"Omar Khadr was a lawful target in that fight but he didn't have the right to fight back."

Military prosecutor? Nope Khadr's own US military appointed defence lawyer - Lt.-Col. Jon Jackson.

And what sentence did the prosecution ask for 25 years... and he gets 40 years. What an absolute travesty.