Lawyer: US ruling can help Canadian ex-Guantanamo detainee's appeal of war crimes convictions

Published June 12, 2015

A lawyer for a former Guantanamo Bay detainee says a U.S. court decision in an unrelated case helps his client's appeal of his convictions by a military commission.

A U.S appeals court on Friday set aside the conviction of Ali Hamza al-Bahlul, who allegedly produced an al-Qaida recruiting video and served as Osama bin Laden's personal assistant and public relations secretary.

Dennis Edney, a lawyer for Toronto-born Omar Khadr, a former Guantanamo detainee, says the new ruling confirms his belief that Khadr's convictions were not recognized war crimes and his appeal should now be allowed.

Khadr pleaded guilty in 2010 to five war crime offenses, including killing a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan when he was 15.

Khadr was transferred to Canada from Guantanamo in 2012.

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https://www.foxnews.com/world/lawyer-us-ruling-can-help-canadian-ex-guantanamo-detainees-appeal-of-war-crimes-convictions