A judge at Guantanamo Bay has agreed to a request from U.S. President Barack Obama to adjourn Omar Khadr's war-crimes tribunal for a period of 120 days.
Lt.-Cmdr. William Kuebler, Khadr's Pentagon-appointed lawyer, said the adjournment is akin to a dismissal of charges against his client.
"I think the practical effect will be the same, which is this process is done and there is no more ongoing process that Prime Minister Harper can use as a pretext for not acting on Omar's behalf,"
Khadr, 22, is accused of killing an American soldier in Afghanistan in July 2002, when he was 15.
He has been held at Gitmo since he was 16.
Harper has so far declined to request the repatriation of Khadr, saying it's not his place to interfere with another country's legal process.
As a result, Khadr is the only Western prisoner still remaining in the facility.
Kuebler said the judicial process is now effectively over, and Harper's rationale no longer stands.
"I think the door is open now for Prime Minister Harper to say the proceedings have been terminated, there's no process to defer to, and we can effectively bring him home," he said.
Kuebler suggested the decision to temporarily adjourn the proceedings, rather than drop the charges altogether - which he had earlier sought -- was political.
"If they had actually withdrawn charges in the cases that could have been reported as charges being dropped...I think from a political standpoint the optics of a suspension or a stay are preferable," he said.
The defence is "very pleased" with the move by Obama, and believes it signals the beginning of the end for the military tribunal process in Guantanamo, Kuebler said.
However, he acknowledged that the U.S. could still decide to bring Khadr back to American soil and proceed with a trial there.
He has argued that Khadr - accused of lobbing the grenade that killed a U.S. soldier -- should be treated as a child soldier.
Obama acts fast on Guantanamo
On Tuesday, as one of his first post-inauguration acts, Obama requested an adjournment in Guantanamo proceedings for Khadr, and those accused of conspiring in the 9/11 terror attacks.
The prosecution in Khadr's case put the request to the judges in his case on Wednesday, and it was approved.
"In the interests of justice, and at the direction of the president of the United States and secretary of defence, the government respectfully requests the military commission grant a continuance of the proceedings . . . until 20 May, 2009," states the motion brought forward on Tuesday.
The motion explains that the intent is to allow time for the new administration to review the military commission process, and to look at the individual cases currently before military commissions.
At the moment there are roughly 250 detainees at Guantanamo Bay, including Khadr. The adjournment allows the administration to evaluate the cases of those who are not granted release or transfer, to determine "whether prosecution may be warranted for any offences."
The review would also lay out the next steps going forward in those instances where prosecution is deemed to be necessary, said the motion.
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