An Alberta judge has ordered Omar Khadr released on bail, giving the former Guantanamo detainee his first chance at freedom after nearly 13 years in custody.

Just hours of Justice June Ross released her decision Friday, Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney issued a statement saying Ottawa would appeal.

“We are disappointed,” Blaney wrote. “Our government will continue to work to combat the international jihadi movement, which has declared war on Canada and her allies.”

But Blaney’s portrayal of Khadr as a dangerous terrorist is in stark contrast to what government lawyers said about the 28-year-old in court.

There was no evidence presented at Khadr’s March bail hearing to argue he posed a risk to society — a fact noted by Ross in her ruling Friday — nor did Department of Justice lawyers refute submissions about Khadr’s exemplary behaviour in custody.

“He has a 12-1/2 year track record as a model prisoner, and a release plan supported by educators, mental health professionals, and his lawyers,” Ross wrote.

“This is a circumstance where balancing a strong appeal and the public confidence in the administration of justice favour the same result.”

Khadr’s longtime Canadian lawyer, Dennis Edney, along with his wife Patricia, have offered to have Khadr live with them and provide whatever supervision he may require.

A large community group in Edmonton — from imams and doctors, to professors at a Christian university where Khadr has been offered admission — has rallied around Khadr.

Edney and lawyer Nathan Whitling, who argued the bail application, said they were delighted by the news. “Omar is fortunate to be back in Canada where we have real courts and real laws,” said Whitling.

“It has been a long time coming,” Edney added about Khadr’s release.

Ross highlight in her ruling the fact that the Alberta Court of Appeals recognized Khadr as a juvenile, since he was 15 years old at the time of his capture in Afghanistan. That court decision is also being challenged by Ottawa and will go before the Supreme Court later this month.

Khadr is scheduled to be back in an Edmonton court on May 5 to discuss the conditions of his bail.

The government could ask for a stay in the bail ruling, which means if granted, Khadr would remain in custody as the appeal is argued.

Key events

Routine bail applications are often one-day hearings, but Khadr’s case was a legal first, since he was applying for bail in Canada while the legality of his Guantanamo conviction is being challenged in a Washington court.

The federal government had argued that she did not have jurisdiction to grant bail when his appeal is in the U.S., not Canada. They also said releasing him would jeopardize Canada’s diplomatic relationship with the United States.

But Ross concluded that the “right to seek bail pending appeal is a principle of fundamental justice,” and Khadr’s right is guaranteed under Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Khadr, who is being held at Bowden Institute in Innisfail, Alta., has spent nearly half his life in custody.

He was shot and captured in 2002 during a firefight with American and Afghan soldiers. During the battle, U.S. Sgt. Christopher Speer was fatally wounded with a grenade.

The Pentagon charged Khadr with five offences under the Military Commissions Act (MCA), which were written years after Khadr’s alleged crimes. He is the only captive the U.S. has charged for a war crime for the death of an American service member in Iraq or Afghanistan.

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Khadr’s U.S. lawyer is arguing that the Pentagon should not have retroactively prosecuted Khadr since killing a soldier in conflict was not a war crime until the Bush administration rewrote the law after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

In 2010, Khadr confessed to throwing the grenade that killed Speer as part of a Pentagon plea deal that allowed him to return to Canada to serve the remainder of his eight-year sentence.

He later said he could not remember the firefight and pleaded guilty only because he felt it was his “only hope” to get out of Guantanamo.

Contact Michelle Shephard at mshephard@thestar.ca . Follow her on Twitter @shephardm.

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