Gitmo Prisoner Who Killed U.S. Soldier To Get $8 Million And An Apology From Canada

Matt Vespa

Omar Khadr is about to have himself a nice payday, though for all the wrong reasons. He was sent to Guantanamo Bay for killing an American solider, U.S. Army Sgt. First Class Christopher Speer, in Afghanistan. He was captured in an al-Qaeda compound, according to the Associated Press. While he pled guilty to various charges, including murder, and provided intelligence, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled that the circumstances during the interrogation were “oppressive.” As a result, he will be getting $8 million from the Canadian government, along with an apology (Fox News via Associated Press):

The Canadian government will apologize and give millions to a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner who pleaded guilty to killing a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan when he was 15, an official said Tuesday.

An official familiar with the matter told the Associated Press that Omar Khadr will receive $8 million. The deal was negotiated with Khadr’s lawyers and the Canadian government last month.

Khadr was 15 when he was captured by U.S. troops following a firefight at a suspected Al Qaeda compound in Afghanistan that resulted in the death of U.S. Special Forces medic, U.S. Army Sgt. First Class Christopher Speer. Khadr, who was suspected of throwing the grenade that killed Speer, was taken to Guantanamo and ultimately charged with war crimes by a military commission.

The Canadian-born Khadr pleaded guilty in 2010 to charges that included murder and was sentences to eight years plus the time he had already spent in custody. He returned to Canada two years later to serve the remainder of his sentence and was released in May 2015 pending an appeal of his guilty plea, which he said was made under duress.

The Canadian Supreme Court ruled in 2010 that Canadian intelligence obtained evidence from Khadr under “oppressive circumstances,” such as sleep deprivation, during interrogations at Guantanamo Bay in 2003, and then shared that evidence with U.S officials.

AP added that the family of Speer and another solider who was blinded by the grenade filed a wrongful death and injury suit against Khadr, where they were awarded $134.2 million in 2015. Yet, the publication said since he’s in Canada, they’d probably never see a dime of the money.  This legal action was executed when they found out Khadr planned a $20 million wrongful imprisonment suit against Canada.