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Originally Posted by Kevin
He killed an American soldier while participating in a terrorist organization.
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Allegedly... and that has been thrown more into question by an eyewitness account of the engagement by the commanding officer - defense is arguing that this casts enough doubt on the charge of murder, while prosecution is arguing that the circumstantial evidence counter's the witness testimony (so same old same old).
Remember: "innocent until proven guilty"
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That makes the case pretty simple for me. From a justice standpoint, this "kid" deserves death.
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Which will cause a political shit-storm really - at least up here and internationally... although it might be why the current Canadian government has backed off of the policy of contesting American Capital Punishment sentences involving Canadian citizens; but even then it'll still mean a huge public opinion debate for the Conservative government if the support or don't contest a death sentence for Omar if convicted (his status as a minor at the time will no doubt add fuel to the fire I'm sure).
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The only question I have here is that of the powers of the U.S. Military Court to do what it's doing. I guess that's why we have lawyers working hard to figure the situation out.
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I'm wondering that myself... since the purview and powers of the court seem to change ever couple of months
Okay now onto my personal issues/opinion with this specific case, leaving aside my opposition to Gitmo in general:
IF Omar is guilty, AND IF he is found guilty then what? Does he have legal recourse for an appeal? If an appeal is possible to whom is it made (the military or civilian justice system)? Will the conduct of this trial and the previous ones affect the public and international view of the legitimacy of the trial? What does his legal designation as a combatant create as a legal precedent? and if he is sentenced to death under the current legal arrangement isn't that a violation of American domestic law as he was 15 at the time of the crime (I thought 16 was the absolute minimum prior to 2005)?