(Saskatoon) Canadian lawyer Dennis Edney, who played a crucial role in the release of Omar Khadr, a young man detained at Guantanamo Bay, has died at the age of 77.
An obituary published in the daily Edmonton Journal indicates that Mr. Edney suffered from dementia and died on Saturday.
The soccer player turned renowned lawyer spent more than a decade defending Omar Khadr, including in three cases before the Supreme Court of Canada, which ultimately led to his release in 2015.
“Dennis was a great lawyer and friend. In all my years in the legal profession, I have never met a lawyer more dedicated to his clients,” said Justice Nathan Whitling of the Alberta Court of King’s Bench, who was part of the Mr. Khadr’s legal team with Mr. Edney.
Mr Edney was born in Dundee, a coastal town in eastern Scotland. A profile of Mr Edney published in a Scottish tabloid in 2012 said he was the son of a truck driver.
“What made me a fighter against governments was my own Scottish character. We don’t like to see the underdog being targeted,” Mr Edney told the Daily Record.
He left home at age 17 and became a low-level professional soccer player in San Francisco. He was also a truck driver and carpenter before turning to law and attending Northumbria University in England.
Mr. Edney was almost 40 years old in 1987, when he became a criminal lawyer and made Canada his permanent home. His obituary indicates that he made Edmonton his home for most of the past 45 years.
“Dennis put his heart and soul into everything. His legal practice reflected his passion for justice and his indomitable spirit,” the obituary said.
Mr. Edney’s legal practice has focused on criminal law and human rights and he has appeared numerous times before the Supreme Court of Canada. Mr. Edney and Mr. Whitling have been widely celebrated as examples of pro bono—or unpaid—work. He was one of the co-recipients of the 2008 national Justice Pro Bono Award.
A notable file
Mr. Edney became a constant irritant to Ottawa officials when he took on the legal representation of the young Guantanamo Bay detainee, often calling out then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative government.
“Mr. Harper doesn’t like Muslims,” Mr. Edney said in 2015 after a Supreme Court hearing.
Mr. Khadr, born in Toronto, was 15 when he was captured by American troops in 2002 following a firefight at a suspected al-Qaeda compound in Afghanistan that resulted in the deaths of ‘an American special forces soldier. Mr. Khadr was accused of throwing the grenade that killed the soldier.
PHOTO HO, REUTERS ARCHIVES
Young Omar Khadr
Mr. Edney said he called Mr. Khadr’s family in Toronto to ask if they had legal representation when the boy was initially detained. Mr. Edney visited Guantanamo and met Mr. Khadr, whom he described as broken and withdrawn.
Mr. Khadr later argued that he pleaded guilty to get out of Guantanamo Bay, where he was the youngest detainee. A Supreme Court of Canada ruling later found that Canadian intelligence officials obtained evidence from Mr. Khadr under “oppressive circumstances,” such as sleep deprivation, during interrogations at Guantanamo Bay in 2003 , then shared this evidence with American officials.
The Canadian government would later provide a $10.5 million settlement and apology for the violation of Mr. Khadr’s constitutional rights.
Mr Edney was appointed foreign consulting lawyer by the US Pentagon to assist in Mr Khadr’s legal defense at the Cuban naval base. He continued to represent the young man when Mr. Khadr returned to Canada in 2012 to serve the remainder of his sentence.
When Mr Khadr was released on bail three years later, he moved in with Mr Edney and the lawyer’s wife.
Patricia Edney told the CBC shortly afterward that Mr. Khadr was welcome at their home and could stay as long as “he wanted.”
The obituary says the attorney and his wife were kindred spirits from the beginning. They met in 1986 and married six weeks later.
The best man at their wedding predicted to Patricia Edney that life would never be boring, according to the notice.
The couple had two sons, Cameron and Duncan. Mr. Edney loved talking at the table, going to hockey arenas and ski slopes, as well as spoiling the family dogs, the notice also indicates.
“His ultimate and lasting passion was family. »