About 200 people rallied in Churchill Square in downtown Edmonton Sunday to urge the Canadian government to bring Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr back to this country.
"Because he is a Canadian citizen and as other countries around the world have done, they brought these people home to their own countries to be tried under their systems," said Charlene Scharf, of Amnesty International.
Khadr, 23, is accused of killing an American soldier in Afghanistan in 2002. He is the only foreign national still being held at the Guantanamo Bay prison. On Friday, the United States government announced Khadr would be tried by a military commission.
That same day, the Supreme Court of Canada heard the federal government's appeal of a lower-court ruling ordering Ottawa to repatriate Khadr.
Rob Betty attended the Edmonton rally with his two teenaged children.
"You know I think about if one of my kids were in a situation like this I would want to feel that the power of my government would come to bear to make sure that justice is served," he said. "So I felt it was important to bring my kids out here to see that they can't take for granted the things that they do take for granted."
One of Khadr's lawyers, Edmonton's Dennis Edney, said rallies like the one held in Churchill Square help, because when people protest, politicians listen.
"They will be counting the numbers of people, that are rising and criticizing them about Omar Khadr," he said.
