After six years in captivity and almost a year of pre-trial hearings, Omar Khadr is scheduled to go on trial Oct. 8.
The date was set by Colonel Patrick Parrish, who replaced Colonel Peter Brownback as judge in the Khadr case last month.
The 21-year-old Canadian is now the second person to get a firm trial date at the U.S. military prison camp in Guantanamo Bay.
Col. Parrish said the date may be changed for legal reasons if necessary. Mr. Khadr's lawyer, Lieutenant-Commander William Kuebler, had said that no date should be set in stone before pre-trial issues were settled.
An undated photo of Omar Khadr, who has now spent a quarter of his life detained at Guantanamo Bay prison camp. (Reuters)
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Mr. Khadr faces up to life in prison if convicted on charges of killing a U.S. soldier with a grenade during a firefight in Afghanistan in 2002. He was 15 years old at the time.
In the pre-trial hearing Thursday, Col. Parrish he showed a significantly different attitude than his predecessor. Whereas Col. Brownback was usually laid back, often addressing defence and prosecution lawyers as “Y'all,” Col. Parrish was far more direct, often interrupting lawyers' arguments with rapid-fire questions that left them stammering for answers.
At another point during Thursday's hearing, Lt.-Cmdr. Kuebler complained that the lead prosecutor, Major Jeff Groharing, could have prejudiced the court by bringing up the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 – attacks that Mr. Khadr is not alleged to have taken any part in.
Col. Parrish replied he would make decisions based only on the facts and would “set emotions aside.”
Mr. Khadr was in court. There was some uncertainty about whether he would show up because of what the defence said were health issues. For the most part, the 21-year-old sat motionless, his head buried near a few papers on the defence desk. He occasionally smiled when talking to a member of the defence team.
This was Mr. Khadr's first appearance in the new courtroom in Guantanamo Bay's “Camp Justice.” The courtroom was set up for the alleged Sept. 11th co-conspirators.
Col. Parrish ruled in favour of the defence on several discovery motions. The defence had asked for copies of the “Standard Operating Procedures” at detention centres in both Bagram, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay – locations where Mr. Khadr was detained and interrogated.
The defence's argument is that the entire detention regime was designed to induce co-operation with interrogators. Prosecution lawyer Captain Kieth Petty argued that, given the sensitive nature of the information in the manuals about the day-to-day operations of the facilities, it is “not a stretch” to imagine how useful they would be to the enemy.
“I don't think Commander Kuebler is your enemy,” replied the judge, shortly before ordering the government to hand over the Standard Operating Procedures over to the defence within 10 days.
Col. Parrish also ordered the prosecution to hand over more documents relating to “Sergeant C,” widely believed to be Sergeant Joshua Claus, a soldier who interrogated Mr. Khadr in Afghanistan and was later convicted for his role in abuse of captives, some of who died in U.S. custody.
The entire court session lasted only a couple of hours. Mr. Khadr will likely be back in court a couple more times before the trial gets under way, the next date being in August.
Mr. Khadr was 15 when he was captured after a firefight in Afghanistan in 2002. He faces multiple terrorism-related charges, the most serious charge dealing with the alleged murder of a U.S. soldier. If convicted he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
