GUANTANAMO BAY: A prosecutor urged a US war crimes tribunal on Saturday to sentence a young Canadian and admitted al Qaeda murderer to 25 more years in prison and said anything less would give license to terrorists.
A military defense lawyer said defendant Omar Khadr, who was captured in a firefight in Afghanistan at age 15, had abandoned the jihadist teachings of his al Qaeda financier father, apologized to his victims and accepted responsibility for his actions.
He called Khadr “a child with a bad dad” and urged the military jurors to free him and give him a chance to go to school and become a contributing member of society. “This case is about giving Omar Khadr a first chance because he’s never had it,” Lieutenant Colonel Jon Jackson told the jury. “There’s going to be no good keeping him here.”
Khadr, now 24, pleaded guilty on Monday to five war crimes after being locked up at the Guantanamo detention camp for eight years. He admitted conspiring with al Qaeda, making bombs for use against US troops and murdering an American soldier with a grenade during a battle in which Khadr himself was shot twice and blinded in one eye.
The jury began deliberating his sentence on Saturday and could order anything from no further punishment to life in prison. The panel’s verdict could be largely moot because the Toronto native’s plea agreement reportedly limits the sentence to eight years, most of it to be served in Canada. The jury could subtract but not add to that.
Prosecutor Jeffrey Groharing said Khadr joined al Qaeda with the full knowledge it was a terrorist group that hid among civilians while launching deadly attacks against American embassies, warships, buildings and passenger airlines.
“Send a message that this type of warfare is despicable and reprehensible and there are consequences,” said Groharing, a former US Marine. “Failing to punish Omar Khadr severely would print licenses for al Qaeda.” He acknowledged Khadr’s age and radical upbringing but said “At 15 you know the difference between right and wrong.
“The accused has caused tremendous pain and suffering for which he must be punished severely,” Groharing said. Khadr’s father was a senior al Qaeda member and confidante of Osama bin Laden who moved his family between al Qaeda camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
