Omar Khadr sentenced to symbolic 40 years

Omar Khadr sentenced to symbolic 40 years.
A U.S. military panel in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, says Canadian-born Omar Khadr should serve 40 years in prison for war crimes, a symbolic decision because a pre-trial plea deal caps his sentence at eight years.

Khadr pleaded guilty last Monday to five war crimes charges brought by the U.S. military — including killing an American soldier in Afghanistan in July 2002 when he was 15 years old — in a plea bargain.


Though more than 1,200 U.S. troops have been killed in Afghanistan, Khadr is the only detainee who has been charged and put on trial in connection with a death , Edney said

"Today is a huge victory for my family … and for hundreds of families out there," said Tabitha Speer, who earlier in the week blasted Khadr as a killer. "The plea, for us, is final."

The prosecution said the panel's desired sentence sent a message both to Khadr and to terrorists around the world, but defended the plea deal as the best way to bring a definitive end to the case.

"What this represents to the government is the certainty of a conviction, it represents the end of a case that spans five years," said Capt. John Murphy, chief of prosecution for the military commission. "It ends all appeals. This case is over."

Though more than 1,200 U.S. troops have been killed in Afghanistan, Khadr is the only detainee who has been charged and put on trial in connection with a death , Edney said.