A chronology of the legal odyssey of former Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr
Posted March 9, 2015 7:05 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A look at the long legal odyssey of Canadian born Omar Khadr:
1986: Omar Khadr is born in Toronto on Sept. 19, but lives with family in Pakistan until 1995.
1995: Khadr’s father is arrested in connection with the bombing of the Egyptian embassy in Islamabad, but is freed after then-prime minister Jean Chretien raises the arrest with Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
1996: After briefly returning to Canada, the family moves to Jalalabad in Taliban-controlled eastern Afghanistan, where they live in Osama bin Laden’s compound.
July 27, 2002: Two Afghan government soldiers are killed and several U.S. troops sustain injuries as coalition forces move in on Khadr’s compound. Khadr is accused of throwing a grenade that kills U.S. Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Speer. Khadr is badly wounded.
October 2002: Khadr is transferred to Guantanamo Bay.
Nov. 7, 2005: The U.S. military charges Khadr with conspiracy, attempted murder and aiding the enemy in connection with the deadly 2002 skirmish that killed Speer.
March 17, 2008: Khadr alleges that he was threatened with rape and violence by interrogators seeking to extract a confession.
Aug. 9, 2010: Khadr officially pleads not guilty to five war crimes charges, including murder, at a pre-trial hearing. Judge Col. Patrick Parrish rules Khadr’s confessions will be admissible as evidence.
Oct. 25, 2010: Amid talk of an agreement, Khadr changes his plea to guilty on all five counts; gets opportunity to apply for a transfer to a Canadian prison after one year in a U.S. facility.
Oct. 31, 2010: Jurors sentence Khadr to 40 years in prison for war crimes but a pre-trial deal limits the actual sentence to eight years.
April 2012: U.S. Defence Secretary Leon Panetta signs off on Khadr’s transfer.
Sept. 29, 2012: A U.S. military airplane brings Khadr back to Canada. He is transferred to the Millhaven Institution near Kingston.
April 28, 2013: Khadr’s lawyer announces he plans to appeal the terrorism convictions.
May 28, 2013: Khadr is transferred to the maximum security Edmonton Institution.
Feb. 11, 2014: Khadr’s lawyer confirms his client has been transferred out of the federal maximum security prison in Edmonton to Bowden Institution, a medium-security prison near the town of Innisfail.
May 22, 2014: Speer’s widow and an American soldier blinded by the grenade sue Khadr for close to $45 million.
March 24, 2015: Hearing scheduled in Khadr’s application for bail pending the outcome of his appeal in the U.S. of his conviction for war crimes.
