WATCH: Omar Khadr’s face has been in the media for years, but very few people actually know anything about him. The Harper government has always opposed his release, but others believe he deserves a chance at redemption. Reid Fiest reports.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Stephen Harper sounded an unrepentant note Friday about his Conservative government’s failed efforts to keep former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Omar Khadr behind bars.
“Mr. Khadr, as we all know, pled guilty to very grave crimes, including murder,” Harper told a news conference as he offered his thoughts and prayers to the family members of U.S. Sgt. Christopher Speer.
“Our government’s priority in these matters is always to make sure, first and foremost, we keep in mind the protection and security of the Canadian population.”
Khadr, now 28, pleaded guilty in October 2010 before a widely discredited military commission to five war crimes – including murder in the death of Speer, a U.S. special forces soldier.
READ MORE: Omar Khadr’s lawyer calls Harper ‘bigot,’ says he ‘doesn’t like Muslims’
Harper refused to say anything further, citing the fact the matter remains before the courts.
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Khadr spent almost 13 years behind bars – four of them as a convicted war criminal.
He was captured, badly wounded, by American forces in Afghanistan in July 2002, when he was 15 years old. At one time, he was the youngest prisoner at the American prison compound in Guantanamo Bay.
After his release on bail Thursday, he offered a comment on Harper’s hard-line stance: “I’m going to have to disappoint him, I’m better than the person he thinks I am.”
Justice Minister Peter MacKay sounded a slightly more conciliatory note, saying Khadr’s public declaration the previous day that he had renounced violence was a good first step after his release from prison.
But MacKay, speaking at an event in Halifax, said people shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that Khadr was involved in terrorism.
READ MORE: Timeline of the legal odyssey of Omar Khadr
“What I hope will happen is that Mr. Khadr will abide by Canadian laws, respect people’s safety, and he is now is a position where he is going to be given that opportunity to prove that,” MacKay said.
“Let’s look ahead with optimism, but with caution, when it comes to individuals who have past proven tendencies that have resulted in the loss of human life.”
The federal government made a last-ditch attempt to stay a decision on bail for Khadr, which was dismissed Thursday.
After Khadr’s release, a spokesperson for Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney said the minister regretted that a convicted terrorist had been released without having served his full sentence.
Khadr walked free after an Alberta judge rejected a last-ditch attempt by the federal government to block his release.
Appeal Court Justice Myra Bielby said the government had failed to prove his release would cause serious harm to Canadian interests or pose a risk to the public.
The government expressed disappointment.
His release came with a list of restrictions including wearing a tracking bracelet and a curfew.
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