Omar Khadr seeks dismissal of US military defense lawyers

Canadian Guantánamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr June 1 asked to have his US military lawyers dismissed for arguing and disagreeing among themselves. The disputes among the members of Khadr’s US defense team arose from chief defense counsel Col. Peter Masciola’s efforts to dismiss Lt. Cmdr. William Kuebler as lead counsel for Khadr after Kuebler filed a formal complaint against Masciola alleging a conflict of interest.

Although Khadr eventually agreed to keep Kuebler on the case for the time being, he maintained his desire to have Canadian lawyers Dennis Edney and Nathan Whitling, who were not present on Monday, represent him. Military judge Col. Patrick Parrish said that Khadr could meet with his Canadian lawyers before making a final decision about dismissing his US counsel. Kuebler continues to argue that Khadr should be returned to Canada. The June 1 hearing was the first military commission hearing to be held since President Barack Obama delayed the military commission tribunals in January. He has since said he wants to revive the commissions with additional due process protections. (Jurist, June 1)

See our last post on the detainment scandal.

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