Khadr's Lawyers Seeking Clemency

If approved, Omar Khadr's eight-year prison sentence could be cut in half.

Omar Khadr's defence team has filed for clemency to have his eight-year sentence split in half, claiming the prosecution at the U.S. military tribunal misled the sentencing panel. Khadr, a Canadian citizen, was 15 when he was captured on an Afghan battlefield and charged with throwing a grenade that killed a U.S. soldier. Khadr's lawyers now allege that the prosecution threatened to withdraw a plea bargain if the defence cross-examined a key witness at the sentencing hearing who claimed Khadr was a "radical jihadist" and likely to reoffend if he got out of prison. Khadr is expected to return to Canada in November to finish off the remainder of his sentence.