Monday, September 23, 2013

Dennis Edney on Omar Khadr



Reposting this moving clip of Omar Khadr's lawyer Dennis Edney from 2010 :
"We cannot rely upon governments or others to help us make society better. Each and every one of us has to be our own leader."

Today :
Michelle Shephard :
"Khadr’s legal odyssey began when he was shot and captured at the age of 15 following a July 27, 2002, firefight with U.S. Special Forces. U.S. Delta Force soldier Sgt. First Class Christopher Speer was fatally wounded by a grenade blast at the end of the battle. The Pentagon accused Khadr of throwing the grenade and charged him with “murder in violation of the laws of war,” attempted murder, conspiracy, spying and providing material support to terrorism. 
His case is the only instance of a U.S. captive being tried for murder for the death of a service member fighting in Afghanistan or Iraq. He is also the first juvenile convicted for war crimes in modern-day history."
"This is an individual who, as you know, pled guilty to very serious crimes including murder and it is very important that we continue to vigorously defend against any attempts, in court, to lessen his punishment for these heinous acts."
“Canadians should be concerned with the interference of our government in the judicial system,” he told journalists. “This is not about guilt or innocence, it’s about where he gets placed.”
He was eligible for full parole in July but hasn't applied, said Edney, because "he hasn't got a chance."   He said because Khadr has been so isolated, he hasn't been eligible for prison programs. And that's what he needs in order for the parole board to release him.   If Khadr continues to be labelled as a maximum security inmate, "he'll never get out," said Edney. 
"This government is running out the clock on him for the next five years."
Update : OMAR KHADR: WAR CRIMINAL, CHILD SOLDIER... OR NEITHER?

Update Sept.30 : Stephen Harper has appointed Justice Marc Nadon to the Supreme Court to replace retiring Justice Morris Fish. In 2009 Nadon provided the dissenting opinion that the Con gov did not breach Omar Khadr's Charter rights in refusing to demand his repatriation from a U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay.
.
Update Oct.18 : Edney's motion denied 

Omar Khadr to remain in maximum-security prison

Alberta Judge rejects application to move former Guantanamo Bay inmate to provincial jail

.

6 comments:

opit said...

"murder in violation of the laws of war" Those would be what, exactly ? I do not believe a state of war existed. Otherwise we would not have been treated to an invasion initiated on the grounds that the Afghan government had the temerity to require due process to extradite Osama bin Laden. Meanwhile the witnesses against the boy...have recanted. And we know what a shining star of observance to international law the nation that declared it would jailbreak any of its people charged with war crimes in the Hague has been. Sadr's 'rights' have been systematically violated since the get go by indefinite internment and a kangaroo court posed as a beacon of justice - from which military prosecutors have resigned in disgust. And then there is the matter of his treatment. http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/18/gitmo.detainees/

Anonymous said...

Omar Khadr was about 10 weeks short of his 16th birthday when firefight with U.S. Special Forces happened.

Stephen Harper's son was born in 1996, and so recently passed through the same age as Kahdr was then.

I wonder if the PM looked at his boy and asked himself: 'If the shit hits the fan, I wonder if Ben would stand up in the line of fire to throw a grenade at the foreign invaders to protect his family - or is he a coward like me?'

Anonymous said...

"the Canadian Supreme Court ruled Khadr’s Charter rights were violated in Guantanamo when he was subject to abuse and extreme sleep deprivation to soften him up for interrogation by CSIS agents."

Shame on Canada for this treatment of a child.

Anonymous said...

"Usually we don’t appreciate the small things. We take them for granted. Once you lose these things like opening your window in the morning and taking a breath of fresh air or seeing a bird chirping, you really appreciate these things. Even though I’m in prison there are still a lot of small beautiful things around us. Seeing the sun rise or set or to see the snow fall.”

"Being back in Canada is, as you said, a wonderful thing. As big or difficult as change may be, it's worth it. There are too many good things in this life (as hard as it might be) to worry or even care about the bad things. Things are what we make out of them. Prison can be a deprivation of freedom, or a time to enlighten ourselves. For me it is the latter."

Omar Khadr, April 2013

Anonymous said...

Isn't Stevie in the US right now speaking up for mothers and children?

What a despicable hippocrat he is.

Anonymous said...

Is this appropriate?

Louis C.K.
http://i.imgur.com/xQBR7iT.jpg

Blog Archive