[LINK] "Omar Khadr should have served youth sentence, Supreme Court rules"

[rfmcdonald]

CBC shares the extended Canadian Press article looking at the latest development in Omar Khadr's life, out on bail and challenging his sentence before the Supreme Court. He may well have done wrong, but I think it's safe to say he was treated badly. May he be able to build a civilized, sustainable life in Canada.

The Supreme Court of Canada wasted no time Thursday as it summarily rejected the federal government's bid to have former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Omar Khadr declared an adult offender.

The case — the third time the Khadr file has come before the high court — centred on whether the eight-year war-crimes sentence he got from a U.S. military commission in 2010 ought to be interpreted as a youth or adult sentence.

The federal government has argued the latter, saying Khadr actually received five concurrent eight-year terms, one for each of his five war crimes — a conclusion the nine justices rejected in a rare decision from the bench.

"The sentence is under the minimum for an adult sentence," Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin told the court after about 30 minutes of midday deliberations that immediately followed the end of the hearing.

"We are of the view that a proper interpretation of the relevant legislation does not permit Mr. Khadr's eight-year sentence to be treated as five distinct eight-year sentences to be served concurrently."