An Alberta judge, who was appointed by Justin Trudeau, has ruled that convicted murderer and Al-Qaeda affiliate Omar Khadr’s war crimes sentence has expired.
Because of the ruling, Khadr is now eligible for a new Canadian passport and will be able to travel freely.
“All those conditions that were restricting his liberty up to this point are now gone, so for example he can apply for a passport, he can talk to his sister, he can travel around the world or around Canada without having to seek permission,” said his lawyer, Nate Whitling.
Khadr was originally detained at Guantanamo Bay after being found responsible for the murder of U.S. Army Sergeant 1st Class Christopher Speer, among other terrorism-related charges.
Khadr, whose father Ahmed Khadr was a financier for Al-Qaeda, joined the terrorist group in the early 2000s when he was a teenager.
In 2013, Khadr sued the Canadian government in a $20 million civil case which he eventually won when Justin Trudeau’s government decided to settle for $10.5 million with Khadr for allegedly abusing his rights as a Canadian citizen.
“I can understand Canadians’ concerns about the settlement. In fact, I share those concerns about the money; that’s why we settled,” said Trudeau about the decision.
“The measure of a just society is not whether we stand up for people’s rights when it’s easy or popular to do so, it’s whether we recognize rights when it’s difficult, when it’s unpopular.”
In an exclusive report by Sheila Gunn Reid at The Rebel, it was revealed that Omar Khadr purchased a strip mall in Edmonton for $3 million.
According to an Angus Reid poll, around 71 per cent of Canadians found the decision unpopular and to be the wrong choice. 64 per cent of those polled in the same survey believed that Khadr still remains a “potential radicalized threat”.
Since 2015, Khadr has been free on bail with conditions. He is still currently facing charges in the US for the death of Sgt. Speer, but Khadr’s lawyer is convinced that the charge will soon be dropped.
“We think that these convictions will eventually be overturned,” said Whitling.
In December 2018, Khadr sought a passport to visit his controversial sister who defended the 9/11 attacks in 2004.
“Sometimes innocent people pay the price. You don’t want to feel happy, but you just sort of think, well, they deserve it, they’ve been doing it for such a long time. Why shouldn’t they feel it once in a while?” said Zaynab Khadr.
Now that Omar Khadr has been vindicated of his charges, he will once again be able to freely travel around the world and even visit his family.
