JURIST - Paper Chase: Khadr lawyer moves for dismissal due to government misconduct

[JURIST] Navy Lt. Cmdr. William Kuebler, lawyer for Canadian Guantanamo detainee Omar Khadr [DOD materials; JURIST news archive], said on Monday that he has filed three separate motions to dismiss the case against his client due to alleged government misconduct. In the first motion, Kuebler alleged that government policy encouraged interrogators to destroy notes [JURIST report] that could have been used to help his client and that evidence of the policy was later covered up. In the second, Kuebler stated that a legal advisor to the military commission hearing Khadr's case has been shown to favor the prosecution and has already been removed from the case against Salim Ahmed Hamdan [JURIST news archive] for bias. In the third, Kuebler argued that the government had inappropriately removed a judge [JURIST report] in the case because he had made decisions favorable to Khadr. AP has more. The Globe and Mail has additional coverage.

Khadr's trial is currently scheduled to begin [JURIST report] in October and he could be sentenced to life imprisonment if convicted on charges [charge sheet, PDF; JURIST report] of murder, attempted murder, conspiracy, providing material support for terrorism, and spying. Khadr is one of four [JURIST report] Guantanamo detainees facing prosecution under the Military Commissions Act of 2006 [text, PDF]. On March 13, a US military judge also ruled [JURIST report] that certain correspondence between US and Canadian government officials regarding Khadr must be turned over to Khadr's defense team. In an affidavit released in early May, Khadr accused US interrogators of mistreatment [JURIST report], including threatening him with rape, physically abusing him, and forcing him to swear to false statements.

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