After spending 10 years in Guantanamo Bay, Khadr arrived at maximum security prison, Millhaven Institution in Bath, Ont., on Saturday morning.
After spending 10 years in Guantanamo Bay, Khadr arrived at maximum security prison, Millhaven Institution in Bath, Ont., on Saturday morning.
Millhaven has been dubbed “Guantanamo North,” and includes a six-bunk facility to hold suspected terrorists. It’s not yet known if Khadr will be placed there for the six remaining years in his eight-year sentence—as he is awaiting a Corrections Canada assessment. Khadr, meanwhile, is spending his days in 23-hour lockdown.
John Baird wasn’t thrilled to welcome Khadr back to Canada, admitting that a big reason why he’s back is due to pressure from the U.S.—the Americans are looking to close Guantanamo and Khadr is still a Canadian citizen.
Still, he could be released even sooner than expected, as he becomes eligible for parole in six months.
Whenever he is released, Khadr won’t have an easy time readjusting to Canada. Public Safety Minister Vic Toews described Khadr’s father, Ahmed Said, as an associate of Osama bin Laden, and said that his mother and older sister “openly applauded his crimes.”
His lawyers are taking issue with this characterization, saying that the government is trying to vilify Khadr.