XPost: can.politics, bc.politics, ab.politics   
      
   The Globe and Mail - Friday, Apr. 24 2015   
      
      
   Omar Khadr granted bail; federal government will appeal   
      
      
   An Alberta judge ordered convicted al-Qaeda terrorist Omar Khadr released on   
   bail Friday morning, giving him his first taste of freedom since he was 15,   
   when the United States military captured him in Afghanistan and then   
   incarcerated him in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.   
      
   But Mr. Khadr will have to wait for a hearing on May 5 that will decide his   
   conditions of release.   
      
   The Toronto-born Khadr, 28, is currently in prison in Innisfail, Alta.   
      
   â€œWe’re very happy with the decision and we’re glad to be back in Canada   
   where   
   there are real courts and real laws, rather than in Guantanamo Bay,â€� Nathan   
   Whitling, one of his lawyers, said in an interview.   
      
   Steven Blaney, the federal Public Safety Minister, said in a statement the   
   government will appeal the release decision.  “We are disappointed and will   
   appeal this decision.   
      
   "Our Government will continue to work to combat the international jihadi   
   movement, which has declared war on Canada and her allies.   
      
   "Omar Ahmed Khadr pleaded guilty to heinous crimes, including the murder of   
   American Army medic Sergeant Christopher Speer.   
      
   	[That 'guilty plea' was later found by the U.S. to have been extracted under   
   extreme duress and a part of a 'plea deal to be returned to Canada]   
      
   "We have vigorously defended against any attempt to lessen his punishment for   
   these crimes."   
      
   Mr. Khadr was convicted of the war crime of murder, and several other offences,   
   by a U.S. military commission and sentenced to eight years in prison, on top of   
   the 12 he had already served.  But he is appealing those convictions and   
   requested bail while waiting for the appeal to be heard.   His sentence expires   
   Oct. 30, 2018.   
      
   Under a plan submitted to Justice Ross of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench,   
   he will live with his longtime lawyer, Dennis Edney and Mr. Edney’s family,   
   in   
   his six-bedroom home in an affluent neighbourhood near a country club.   
      
   He said in documents filed with the court that he would stay in touch with his   
   family in Toronto by Skype.  His mother and sister once gave an interview to   
   CBC-TV in which they expressed support for terrorism.  His father was a senior   
   al-Qaeda member who was killed in battle.  A brother was permanently disabled   
   in battle.  Omar Khadr was brought to Afghanistan by his family when he was 11.   
      
   Justice Ross said that, while Mr. Khadr had waived his right to appeal as part   
   of a plea agreement, she had received “unchallenged expert evidenceâ€� that   
   he   
   maintained his right to an appeal nonetheless, and that it has “a strong   
   probability of success.â€�   
      
   She also noted that the federal government had not challenged Mr. Khadr’s   
   claim   
   that he is a strong candidate for bail.  “He has a 12 ½-year track record   
   as a   
   model prisoner, and a release plan supported by educators, mental health   
   professionals and his lawyers.â€�   
      
   The Canadian government argued that Mr. Khadr waived his right to an appeal in   
   the plea agreement that brought him back to Canada from the U.S. prison for   
   suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay.   
      
   Mr. Khadr was captured by the U.S. military shortly before his 16th birthday,   
   after a deadly battle in Afghanistan.  He became a cause célèbre, with rights   
   groups here and abroad calling on Canada to seek his repatriation, and the   
   United States to treat him as a child soldier in need of rehabilitation.  Both   
   countries insisted the military justice system be allowed to proceed.   
      
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