Judge eases Omar Khadr’s bail conditions, removes bracelet

EDMONTON— An Edmonton judge is easing bail restrictions and allowing former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Omar Khadr to travel to Toronto to visit his grandparents — but he may not be able to fly.

Lawyer Nathan Whitling said he is trying to determine whether Khadr is on Canada’s no-fly list.

If Khadr can’t take a plane over four provinces, he may not go.

“We’re not 100-per-cent sure yet,” Whitling said Friday after the judge amended Khadr’s bail conditions.

A spokesman with Public Safety Canada said he cannot reveal names on the Specified Persons List.

The federal Passenger Protect Program supplies airlines with a list of people considered a threat to civil aviation.

An advisory panel that includes representatives of the RCMP, Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the Canada Border Services Agency and Justice and Transport departments recommend names. The public safety minister has the final say on who is put on the list.

Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney has repeatedly described Khadr as a hardened terrorist who should be serving his full sentence in jail.

Justice June Ross, of the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta, ruled Friday that Khadr can visit his grandparents in Toronto for up to two weeks, as long as he travels there with one of his Edmonton lawyers, Dennis Edney, by the end of the year.

The judge said previous conditions that required Khadr to only talk with relatives only in English and under supervision will now only apply to two specific family members, his mother and one sister, who have expressed extremist views in the past. Court heard that the pair is now out of the country.

The judge also ruled that Khadr can also get rid of his electronic monitoring bracelet, which he argued was embarrassing and interfered with activities such as biking, swimming and playing soccer.