General

MacKay’s wife calls for Khadr’s return to Canada

Defence Minister Peter MacKay’s wife, Nazanin Afshin-Jam, says Omar Khadr should be immediately returned to Canada.

Afshin-Jam told The Guardian that he should be removed from Guantanamo Bay after the nearly 10 years he’s been held. Afshin-Jam is a human rights activist.

Khadr, as a part of his plea-bargain in 2010, pleaded guilty to multiple charges that included throwing a grenade at 15 that killed a U.S. soldier. He was given an eight-year sentence, but has been eligible to return to Canada since fall 2011. The Conservative government has yet to act on it.

“So I’m not saying that he shouldn’t be kept in prison but definitely I think it’s time to bring him back to Canada,” Afshin-Jam said. “He was a Canadian citizen and he can be tried here or looked after here in terms of how long his sentence is going to be or what is going to be his fate.”

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