From: grmerrick@shaw.ca   
      
   On Fri, 12 Dec 2014 17:36:55 -0800, "(?_?) "  wrote:   
      
   >I strongly suspect that the Supreme Court is about to teach the Harper   
   >government a very real and lasting lesson on what happens when it ignores the   
   >Constitutional rights of a Canadian citizen and flouts the rules of the Geneva   
   >Agreement on the treatment of political prisoners.  Add to that mix his   
   >government's collaboration with a country against the interests of one of its   
   >own citizens.  . . .    This will be a case to watch.   
   >_______________________________________________   
   >   
   >  — CP — Dec 11 2014   
   >   
   >   
   >Omar Khadr’s youth status headed to top court   
   >   
   >Former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Omar Khadr is shown in an undated handout photo   
   >from the Bowden Institution in Innisfail, Alta.  A decision by the Supreme   
   >Court of Canada to hear the federal government's challenge of Khadr's youth   
   >status stunned his lawyers on Thursday, although not much would have changed   
   >for him if the decision had gone the other way.   
   >   
   >   
   >TORONTO - A decision by the Supreme Court of Canada to hear the federal   
   >government's challenge of Omar Khadr's youth status stunned his lawyers on   
   >Thursday, although not much would have changed for him if the decision had   
   gone   
   >the other way.   
   >   
   >Khadr, whose eyesight is said to be failing, had already agreed to remain in a   
   >federal prison even though Alberta's top court had ruled unanimously he should   
   >be deemed a young offender and moved to a provincial facility.   
   >   
   >Nevertheless, the high court decision took his lawyers by surprise.   
   >   
   >"I'm stunned," Nate Whitling, one of Khadr's lawyers, said from Edmonton   
   >minutes after the high court said it would hear the case.   
   >   
   >"We're of the view there's no merit whatsoever to the government's position."   
   >   
   >Khadr's lawyers had previously decided a penitentiary affords him better   
   >program opportunities than he would get in the provincial system.   
   >   
   >However, the bigger issue is that he remains classified as a medium-security   
   >inmate, a security rating that compromises his chances for parole.   
   >   
   >Although eligible for full parole since last July, Khadr has previously waived   
   >a hearing given the concern he would be turned down and would have to wait at   
   >least two more years for another try. However, he is currently slated to   
   attend   
   >a hearing in June.   
   >   
   >Now in his 12th year in custody, Khadr is serving out a plea-bargained   
   >eight-year sentence handed down by a widely discredited U.S. military   
   >commission in October 2010 after he pleaded guilty to five war crimes,   
   >including murder.   
   >   
   >Although he was 15 years old when the offences occurred in Afghanistan in July   
   >2002 — numerous legal experts say that makes him a youth under international   
   >law — the military commission made no distinction between juveniles and   
   adults.   
   >   
   >The Toronto-born Khadr was returned to Canada under the International Transfer   
   >of Offenders Act in September 2012, requiring correctional authorities to   
   >decide what the sentence meant under Canadian law.   
   >   
   >Ottawa, which has branded Khadr, now 28, an unrepentant terrorist, argued his   
   >military commission punishment was equivalent to five eight-year terms to be   
   >served concurrently, making him an adult. Khadr's lawyers argued their client   
   >had received a single global sentence of eight years, which could only be   
   >considered a youth sentence under Canadian law.   
   >   
   >In July, Alberta's top court sided with Khadr's view, prompting Ottawa to ask   
   >the Supreme Court to hear the case — the third time the country's highest   
   court   
   >will deal with the Toronto-born Khadr, who is currently incarcerated in Bowden   
   >Institution in Innisfail, Alta. The two previous decisions went in his favour.   
   >   
   >A spokesman for Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney said the government wants   
   >to ensure Khadr stays in a federal penitentiary — "where he belongs."   
   >   
   >"We are pleased with the decision of the Supreme Court to hear this matter,"   
   >Jason Tamming said in an email. "We do not agree that a youth sentence is   
   >appropriate."   
   >   
   >Dennis Edney, another of Khadr's lawyers, said the federal appeal comes   
   despite   
   >the unanimous ruling by Alberta's top court. The government has already wasted   
   >millions of tax dollars litigating against his client, he said.   
   >   
   >"This was a continuation of spiteful acts taken by this government to   
   >demonstrate it is tough on crime," Edney said.   
   >   
   >Khadr lost sight in one eye during a heavy bombardment in Afghanistan in which   
   >the Americans captured him. The shrapnel wounds are now threatening the sight   
   >in his other eye, the lawyer said.   
   >   
   >"The fear of Omar going permanently blind is becoming a reality," Edney said   
   in a c   
   >an interview.   
      
   The great christians in this newsgroup would drop kids into a   
   volcanoe.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)