EDMONTON — Omar Khadr is expected to be released from prison soon after an Alberta Court of Appeal justice rejected a last-ditch government attempt to keep the Guantanamo Bay prisoner behind bars.
Justice Myra Bielby ruled the government failed to prove that allowing Khadr out now would cause "irreparable harm" to Canada's international treaty obligations.
Khadr was in the courtroom and let out a smile when Bielby announced her decision.
It will be Khadr's first taste of freedom in almost 13 years, since his capture as a wounded 15-year-old in Afghanistan in July 2002.
"Mr. Khadr, you're free to go," Bielby said.
A spokesman for Minister of Public Safety Steven Blaney said the government was disappointed with the decision.
"(We) regret that a convicted terrorist has been allowed back into Canadian society without having served his full sentence," Jeremy Laurin said in a statement.
Bielby's ruling comes after Tuesday's 11th-hour attempt by Ottawa to keep the 28-year-old Khadr behind bars.
A lower court judge had granted Khadr bail last month while he appeals his war crimes conviction in the United States.
Khadr is now expected to be freed later today under conditions that include wearing a tracking bracelet.
Among his other restrictions, Khadr will have to observe a night-time curfew, face limits on contact with his Toronto family, and live with his lawyer, Dennis Edney, and wife Patricia at their home in Edmonton.
After the ruling, Edney hugged and kissed his wife, who was crying uncontrollably, as others cheered in the courtroom.
Moments later, Edney said he was incredibly delighted with the decision.
"It's taken too many years to get to this point," he said. "I look forward to Omar Khadr letting the Canadian public see who he is, to challenge the lies of this government who has not allowed him to be seen or speak to you."
The government had argued that releasing Khadr from Bowden Institution near Innisfail, Alta., would undermine the treaty under which the U.S. returned him to Canada to serve out his eight-year sentence in 2012.
Khadr's lawyers called that purely speculative, saying no other Canadian prisoner abroad is in a similar situation.
They also pointed to the fact that he's been a model prisoner who was recently classified as a minimum security, and he could be released on parole in June.
Documents in support of the reclassification include a recent wide-ranging interview Khadr did with a prison psychologist in which he denounces terrorism and says he wants to win people's trust and respect.
"I've screwed up in the past, and I'm worried it will haunt me," Khadr told the psychologist. "People will think I'm the same person as I was 12 or 13 years ago."
He also said he still suffers nightmares of the brutal firefight in July 2002 in Afghanistan in which he was almost killed before the Americans captured him.
Conditions Omar Khadr must observe if released on bail
EDMONTON — If Omar Khadr is released on $5,000 bail Thursday, the clock will stop ticking on the time served toward his eight-year sentence. He also faces numerous conditions, including:
— Must wear an electronic monitoring device.
— Must live with his lawyer Dennis Edney and wife Patricia in Edmonton.
— Must observe a nightly curfew from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.
— Cannot leave Alberta without prior approval, except to visit Edneys' vacation home in B.C.
— May only contact his family by telephone or video under Edneys' supervision, and chat must be in English.
— May only have in-person visits with his family with prior approval from bail supervisor.
— Any Internet access will be restricted and must be monitored and supervised.
SOURCE: Alberta Court of Queen's Bench
