WASHINGTON - A U.S. military judge has ordered the trial of Canadian detainee Omar Khadr to go ahead as planned on Nov. 8 in Guantanamo Bay.
Judge Col. Peter Brownback cited the need for the case to proceed in a "judicious manner."
The decision comes even though Khadr's lawyers have taken the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals.
The 21-year-old Khadr is facing murder and terrorism charges for allegedly throwing a grenade that killed a U.S. medic in a firefight in Afghanistan in 2002, when he was 15.
Brownback says he has a duty to proceed with the case when the appeals court has not issued a stay of proceedings.
Omar's lawyers say they may seek just such a stay of proceedings from the U.S. Court of Appeals.
Khadr's lead military lawyer Lt.-Cmdr. Bill Kuebler says the practical effect of the judge's order is to deny Khadr's right to seek a meaningful review of a decision by a special military appeals court allowing the trial to resume.
In his email order, Brownback agrees it would be "unprecedented" to hold court sessions while an appeal was pending at the Court of Appeals. "Unprecedented, however, does not mean improper or unlawful," Brownback says.
The judge says the military commission trying Khadr disagrees with the defence "that the commission has some duty to stay its proceedings while waiting for the Court of Appeals to act on the appeal."
"To the contrary, the commission finds that it has a duty to proceed with the case in a judicious manner, absent a stay imposed by the Court of Appeals (or another body)."
Kuebler calls the whole process "Alice in Wonderland."
The U.S. Defence Department, he said, "is so desperate to validate this broken process that they will disregard just about any concern of judicial economy or fairness to the accused."
"They write a rule giving Omar a right to appeal, they tell Omar he has a right to appeal, and when he appeals, they claim he doesn't have a right to appeal," Kuebler says in a news release.
"The U.S. would never tolerate this kind of treatment for an American, yet the Canadian government continues to agree with the U.S. view that it's good enough for a Canadian."
Kuebler has made similar comments about Canada before.
He has argued that the special military appeals court was wrong last month when it said the case could go ahead.
At issue is the fact that Khadr hasn't been designated an "unlawful" enemy combatant, as required by Congress. Kuebler argues that the murder trial at the U.S. naval base in Cuba wouldn't allow him to raise key issues of international and constitutional law.
It was Brownback himself who dismissed the case in June, saying he lacked jurisdiction to try Khadr because the accused hadn't been declared an "unlawful" enemy combatant.
But the military review panel later decided Brownback has the authority after all to try Khadr.
The U.S. military is seeking a life sentence against the accused.
