August 4, 2010 / by emptywheel

 

Canadian Judge: Omar Khadr’s Brother Was Illegally Held and Interrogated

Omar Khadr is set to go on trial starting Monday, August 9.

Today, his brother went free in Canada.

A judge ruled that he could not be extradited to the US because the confessions on which his extradition request was based had been collected when he was illegally held and interrogated in Pakistan.

Abdullah Khadr walked out of a Toronto courtroom a free man Wednesday after an Ontario judge denied a U.S. request to send him to Boston to face terrorism charges.

[snip]

Reading passages from his 62-page decision, [the judge in the case, Christopher] Speyer told a Toronto court that setting aside the extradition order was a “remedy of last resort” required in this case due to the fact that Khadr was illegally held and interrogated.

Khadr’s lawyers Nathan Whitling and Dennis Edney had argued that extraditing Khadr would mean Canada supports countries that violate international law.

Pakistan was paid a $500,000 (US) bounty to arrest Khadr in 2004. He was held without charges for 14 months and interrogated by intelligence and police agents from the U.S., Pakistan and Canada.

The Boston case against the 29-year-old Khadr was based on his own statements made in Pakistan and then repeated in Toronto upon his return in 2005.

Abdullah Khadr, like his brother Omar, said he made the confession only after suffering from abuse.

This decision may be appealed. But for the moment, Abdullah Khadr’s fate sets up an interesting contrast with the likely fate of his brother before the Gitmo show trials.

Copyright © 2010 emptywheel. All rights reserved.
Originally Posted @ https://www.emptywheel.net/2010/08/04/canadian-judge-omar-khadrs-brother-was-illegally-held-and-interrogated/