An Edmonton judge has denied former Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr's request to have his bail conditions eased.

There's no evidence of hardship or that the conditions are needlessly onerous, Court of Queen's Bench Justice June Ross said Friday.

She said nothing has really changed since the last time Khadr asked for changes to his bail conditions and the restrictions he faces are "reasonable" and "standard."

Ross said her decision is not etched in stone and conditions could change in the future.

"Based on all of the evidence I have seen, Mr. Khadr is not a flight risk or a risk to public safety," Ross said. "Nonetheless, it seems to me it's reasonable to make sure the courts are kept up to date on his whereabouts and activities.

"The public would expect we have up-to-date information about his whereabouts," Ross added. "They would expect reasonable travel restrictions."

Khadr, 32, has been on bail since May 2015 pending an appeal of his conviction by a U.S. military commission on alleged war crimes. The appeal has stalled, so Khadr has no idea how long he will be on bail.

Khadr didn't speak to reporters after Friday's ruling.

"We're going to review the decision and consider our next steps," his lawyer, Nathan Whitling, said outside court.

Whitling said it's not fair that Khadr's life remains restricted by a stalled U.S. court process with no end in sight.

"His case is different because of the extraordinarily long time that he's been on bail ... because of the extraordinary delays that have occurred with his foreign appeal," Whitling said in an interview.

Wanted to make pilgrimage to Mecca

Khadr wanted to be able to travel to Toronto without the approval of his bail supervisor to visit his family more easily and to make court appearances related to a civil lawsuit filed by the family of an American soldier killed in the Afghanistan firefight in which Khadr was captured in 2002.

He also wanted unsupervised conversations with his sister and a Canadian passport so that he could make the hajj to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. The Islamic religious pilgrimage is considered obligatory for practising Muslims.

Currently, he must contact his bail supervisor if he wants to leave Alberta. He can only talk under supervision to his sister Zaynab, who has spoken in favour of al-Qaeda and was investigated in Canada more than a decade ago for helping the terrorist network.

Khadr said his sister now lives in the country of Georgia.

Whitling said his client has lived quietly for years, is happily married, follows bail conditions to the letter and poses no threat. Khadr's affidavit says he has been to Toronto eight times without issue since the conditions were imposed.

'Depressive symptoms'

In support of the application to ease bail conditions, Whitling submitted a letter from Brooklyn, N.Y., psychologist Katherine Porterfield. She has been in regular contact with Khadr since his detention as a teenager at Guantanamo Bay.

Porterfield believes Khadr's mental health is suffering due to the ongoing nature of his bail conditions.

"He has recently experienced some depressive symptoms, as well as an increase in his symptoms of PTSD," Porterfield wrote. "Specifically, [he] is manifesting a foreshortened sense of future and a return of symptoms of hyperarousal and re-experiencing of memories of prison."

The psychologist's opinion is that Khadr's "legal limbo" is triggering memories of the time he spent as a teenager in Guantanamo Bay.

Ross called Khadr's feelings "understandable," but said they don't change the fact that he has not served his sentence for crimes to which he pleaded guilty.

"Bail cannot provide an alternative way to serve his sentence," Ross said.

This is Khadr's latest of several attempts for relaxed bail conditions. In 2017, a judge denied most of his requests.

Khadr was sent to the notorious U.S. military holding facility at Guantanamo Bay in 2002 after he was captured and accused of throwing a grenade that killed a U.S. soldier in 2002.

When Khadr was captured, he was 15. He says he can't remember killing a soldier. He says he only confessed to the crime to get out of Guantanamo and into the Canadian justice system.

In 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that his rights were violated while he was in captivity in the U.S. and that the Canadian government had contributed to that. Khadr settled a lawsuit against Ottawa in 2017 with a $10.5-million payout.

2nd application also dismissed

Khadr's lawyer hopes to replace his client's indefinite bail situation with parole, since parole could include a definite end date. The parole board has refused to grant Khadr a hearing because he is not in custody.

Whitling asked Ross to sign an order that would revoke his bail at the start of a parole board hearing, and reinstate it if the parole board deferred or denied the request for parole.

Ross refused.

"Such decisions should not be made based on future hypothetical circumstances that may or may not occur," Ross said, adding that if a parole hearing is scheduled, Whitling can bring forward the application again.</s>EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — A Canadian judge on Friday denied former Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr’s request for relaxed bail conditions and a Canadian passport.

Justice June Ross ruled there’s no evidence of hardship or conditions that are needlessly onerous.

The Canadian-born Khadr was 15 when he was captured by U.S. troops after a firefight at a suspected al-Qaida compound in Afghanistan that resulted in the death of U.S. Army Sgt. First Class Christopher Speer. Khadr was suspected of throwing the grenade that killed Speer.

He pleaded guilty in 2010 to charges that included murder and was sentenced to eight years plus the decade he had already spent in custody at the American prison. He returned to Canada from Guantanamo Bay two years later to serve the remainder of his sentence and was released in May 2015 pending an appeal of his guilty plea, which he said was made under duress.

Khadr’s lawyer had argued that it wasn’t fair that his client’s life remains restricted by a stalled U.S. court process that has no end in sight.

Khadr, who is now 32, wanted unsupervised conversations with his sister and a Canadian passport so that he could make a pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

Khadr also wanted to be able to travel to Toronto without the approval of his bail supervisor to visit his family more easily and to make court appearances related to a civil lawsuit he faces. Khadr does not know how long his bail conditions are in effect.

He was paid $8 million by Canada’s government last year under a court ruling that his rights were violated while he was locked up at Guantanamo.

News of the multimillion-dollar payout to Khadr, whose case received international attention after some dubbed him a child soldier, angered many who considered him a terrorist.</s>An Edmonton judge has dismissed a request by former Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr for relaxed bail conditions and a Canadian passport.</s>EDMONTON — An Edmonton judge has denied former Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr's request for relaxed bail conditions and a Canadian passport.

Justice June Ross says there's no evidence of hardship or that the conditions are needlessly onerous.

She says nothing has really changed since the last time Khadr asked for changes to his bail conditions and the restrictions he faces are reasonable.

Ross says her decision is not etched in stone and conditions could change in the future.

Khadr's lawyer had argued that it wasn't fair that his client's life remains restricted by a stalled U.S. court process with no end in sight.

Khadr, 32, has been on bail since May 2015 pending his appeal of his conviction by a U.S. military commission on alleged war crimes. The appeal has stalled and Khadr has no idea of how long his bail conditions will last.

Khadr wanted to be able to travel to Toronto without the approval of his bail supervisor to visit his family more easily and to make court appearances related to a civil lawsuit filed by the family of an American soldier killed in the Afghanistan firefight in which Khadr was captured

He also wanted unsupervised conversations with his sister, who lives in the country of Georgia, and a Canadian passport so that he could make a pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. The Islamic religious pilgrimage, or hajj, is considered obligatory for practising Muslims.

Currently, he must contact his bail supervisor if he wants to leave Alberta. He can only talk under supervision to his sister Zaynab, who has spoken in favour of al-Qaida and was investigated in Canada more than a decade ago for helping the terrorist network.

"In Canada, appeals move quickly," Whitling had argued. "This is pending a foreign appeal, which has never happened before and this foreign appeal is extraordinarily slow."

He said his client has lived quietly for years, is happily married, follows bail conditions to the letter and poses no threat. Khadr's affidavit says he has been to Toronto eight times without issue since the conditions were imposed.

The Canadian Press Khadr is seeking a Canadian passport to travel to Saudi Arabia and wants permission to speak to his sister.

It's the latest of several attempts for relaxed bail conditions. In 2017, a judge denied most of his requests.

Khadr was sent to the notorious U.S. military holding facility at Guantanamo Bay in 2002 after he was captured and accused of throwing a grenade that killed a U.S. soldier in 2002.

He was 15 at the time and says he can't remember killing the soldier. He says he only confessed to the crime to get out of Guantanamo and into the Canadian justice system.

In 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that Khadr's rights were violated while he was in captivity in the U.S. and that the Canadian government had contributed to that. Khadr settled a lawsuit against Ottawa in 2017 with a $10.5-million payout.</s>EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) - A Canadian judge on Friday denied former Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr's request for relaxed bail conditions and a Canadian passport.

Justice June Ross ruled there's no evidence of hardship or conditions that are needlessly onerous.

The Canadian-born Khadr was 15 when he was captured by U.S. troops after a firefight at a suspected al-Qaida compound in Afghanistan that resulted in the death of U.S. Army Sgt. First Class Christopher Speer. Khadr was suspected of throwing the grenade that killed Speer.

He pleaded guilty in 2010 to charges that included murder and was sentenced to eight years plus the decade he had already spent in custody at the American prison. He returned to Canada from Guantanamo Bay two years later to serve the remainder of his sentence and was released in May 2015 pending an appeal of his guilty plea, which he said was made under duress.

Khadr's lawyer had argued that it wasn't fair that his client's life remains restricted by a stalled U.S. court process that has no end in sight.

Khadr, who is now 32, wanted unsupervised conversations with his sister and a Canadian passport so that he could make a pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

File-This July 6, 2017, file photo shows former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Omar Khadr, 30, in Mississauga, Ont. A Canadian judge on Friday, Dec. 21, 2018, denied the former Guantanamo Bay detainee's request for relaxed bail conditions and a Canadian passport. Justice June Ross ruled there's no evidence of hardship or conditions that are needlessly onerous. The Canadian-born Khadr was 15 when he was captured by U.S. troops after a firefight at a suspected al-Qaida compound in Afghanistan that resulted in the death of U.S. Army Sgt. First Class Christopher Speer. Khadr was suspected of throwing the grenade that killed Speer. (Colin Perkel/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

Khadr also wanted to be able to travel to Toronto without the approval of his bail supervisor to visit his family more easily and to make court appearances related to a civil lawsuit he faces. Khadr does not know how long his bail conditions are in effect.

He was paid $8 million by Canada's government last year under a court ruling that his rights were violated while he was locked up at Guantanamo.

News of the multimillion-dollar payout to Khadr, whose case received international attention after some dubbed him a child soldier, angered many who considered him a terrorist.</s>EDMONTON -- An Edmonton judge is to rule Friday on former Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr's request for relaxed bail conditions and a Canadian passport.

His lawyer Nathan Whitling said it's not fair that Khadr's life remains restricted by a stalled U.S. court process with no end in sight.

"His case is different because of the extraordinarily long time that he's been on bail ... because of the extraordinary delays that have occurred with his foreign appeal," Whitling said in an interview.

Khadr, 32, wants to be able to travel to Toronto without the approval of his bail supervisor to visit his family more easily and to make court appearances related to a civil lawsuit filed by the family of an American soldier killed in the Afghanistan firefight in which Khadr was captured

He also wants unsupervised conversations with his sister and a Canadian passport so that he can make the hajj to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. The Islamic religious pilgrimage is considered obligatory for practising Muslims.

Currently, he must contact his bail supervisor if he wants to leave Alberta. He can only talk under supervision to his sister Zaynab, who has spoken in favour of al-Qaida and was investigated in Canada more than a decade ago for helping the terrorist network.

Khadr said his sister now lives in the country of Georgia.

He has been on bail since May 2015, when it was granted by an Alberta judge pending appeal of Khadr's conviction by a U.S. military commission on alleged war crimes. The appeal in the U.S. has stalled and Khadr has no idea of how long his bail conditions will last.

"In Canada, appeals move quickly," Whitling said. "This is pending a foreign appeal, which has never happened before and this foreign appeal is extraordinarily slow."

He said his client has lived quietly for years, is happily married, follows bail conditions to the letter and poses no threat. Khadr's affidavit says he has been to Toronto eight times without issue since the conditions were imposed.

It's the latest of several attempts for relaxed bail conditions. In 2017, a judge denied most of his requests.

Khadr was sent to the notorious U.S. military holding facility at Guantanamo Bay in 2002 after he was captured and accused of throwing a grenade that killed a U.S. soldier in 2002.

He was 15 at the time and says he can't remember killing the soldier. He says he only confessed to the crime to get out of Guantanamo and into the Canadian justice system.

In 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that Khadr's rights were violated while he was in captivity in the U.S. and that the Canadian government had contributed to that. Khadr settled a lawsuit against Ottawa in 2017 with a $10.5-million payout.</s>EDMONTON — A judge has denied former Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr’s request for relaxed bail conditions and a Canadian passport.

Justice June Ross said Friday that nothing has changed since the last time Khadr asked for eased bail conditions and there’s no evidence the current restrictions create hardship or are needlessly strict.

“The passage of another year has changed neither Mr. Khadr’s legal status nor my view of the law,” Ross said in Edmonton Court of Queen’s Bench. “The evidence does not indicate a current hardship arising from bail conditions.”

Khadr wanted to be able to travel to Toronto without the approval of his bail supervisor to visit his family more easily and to make court appearances related to a civil lawsuit filed by the family of an American soldier killed in the Afghanistan firefight in which Khadr was captured.

He also wanted unsupervised conversations with his sister, who lives in the country of Georgia, and a Canadian passport so that he could make a pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, an obligation for observant Muslims.

As it stands, he must contact his bail supervisor if he wants to leave Alberta. He can only talk under supervision to his sister Zaynab, who has spoken in favour of al-Qaida and was investigated in Canada more than a decade ago for helping the terrorist network.

Ross said Khadr’s desire to undertake a religious pilgrimage does not mean he needs a passport right away.

“It does not require Mr. Khadr to travel now.”

Ross concluded that the bail restrictions on Khadr’s movements and communications are common in Canadian law and are justifiable.

“Mr. Khadr is not a flight risk or a risk to public safety,” she said. “But it is reasonable to ensure that public authorities are kept informed as to his whereabouts.”

Ross said her decision is not etched in stone and conditions could change if an emergency arose for which he needed to travel.

Khadr’s lawyer had argued that it wasn’t fair that his client’s life remains restricted by a stalled U.S. court process with no end in sight.

Khadr, 32, has been on bail since May 2015 pending his appeal of his conviction by a U.S. military commission on alleged war crimes. The appeal has stalled and Khadr has no idea how long his bail conditions will last.

“In Canada, appeals move quickly,” his lawyer Nathan Whitling said in an interview before the judge’s ruling. “This is pending a foreign appeal, which has never happened before and this foreign appeal is extraordinarily slow.”

Whitling said his client has lived quietly for years, is happily married, follows bail conditions to the letter and poses no threat. Khadr’s affidavit says he has been to Toronto eight times without issue since the conditions were imposed.

It’s the latest of several attempts for relaxed bail conditions. In 2017, Ross denied most of Khadr’s requests.

Khadr was sent to the notorious U.S. military holding facility at Guantanamo Bay in 2002 after he was captured and accused of throwing a grenade that killed a U.S. soldier in 2002.

He was 15 at the time and says he can’t remember killing the soldier. He said he only confessed to the crime to get out of Guantanamo and into the Canadian justice system.

In 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that Khadr’s rights were violated while he was in captivity in the U.S. and that the Canadian government had contributed to that violation. Khadr settled a lawsuit against Ottawa in 2017 with a $10.5-million payout.</s>EDMONTON — An Edmonton judge has denied former Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr's request for relaxed bail conditions and a Canadian passport.

Justice June Ross says there's no evidence of hardship or that the conditions are needlessly onerous.

She says nothing has really changed since the last time Khadr asked for changes to his bail conditions and the restrictions he faces are reasonable.

Ross says her decision is not etched in stone and conditions could change in the future.

Khadr's lawyer had argued that it wasn't fair that his client's life remains restricted by a stalled U.S. court process with no end in sight.

Khadr, who is 32, has been on bail since May 2015 pending appeal of his conviction by a U.S. military commission on alleged war crimes.

The appeal in the U.S. has stalled and Khadr has no idea of how long his bail conditions will last.

Khadr wanted to be able to travel to Toronto without the approval of his bail supervisor to visit his family more easily and to make court appearances related to a civil lawsuit he faces.

He also wanted unsupervised conversations with his sister and a Canadian passport so that he could make a pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.</s>An Edmonton judge is to rule Friday on former Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr‘s request for relaxed bail conditions and a Canadian passport.

Court of Queen’s Bench Justice June Ross was expected to make a decision last week, but she said there were enough unprecedented aspects to the application to warrant taking time to think it over.

READ MORE: Omar Khadr speaks after Edmonton judge reserves decision on bail condition changes

His lawyer Nathan Whitling said it’s not fair that Khadr’s life remains restricted by a stalled U.S. court process with no end in sight.

“His case is different because of the extraordinarily long time that he’s been on bail … because of the extraordinary delays that have occurred with his foreign appeal,” Whitling said in an interview.

Khadr, 32, wants to be able to travel to Toronto without the approval of his bail supervisor to visit his family more easily and to make court appearances related to a civil lawsuit filed by the family of an American soldier killed in the Afghanistan firefight in which Khadr was captured.

He also wants unsupervised conversations with his sister and a Canadian passport so that he can make the hajj to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. The Islamic religious pilgrimage is considered obligatory for practising Muslims.

Currently, he must contact his bail supervisor if he wants to leave Alberta. He can only talk under supervision to his sister Zaynab, who has spoken in favour of al-Qaida and was investigated in Canada more than a decade ago for helping the terrorist network.

READ MORE: Justin Trudeau gets standing ovation for handling of Omar Khadr protester

Khadr said his sister now lives in the country of Georgia.

He has been on bail since May 2015, when it was granted by an Alberta judge pending appeal of Khadr’s conviction by a U.S. military commission on alleged war crimes. The appeal in the U.S. has stalled and Khadr has no idea of how long his bail conditions will last.

“In Canada, appeals move quickly,” Whitling said. “This is pending a foreign appeal, which has never happened before and this foreign appeal is extraordinarily slow.”

WATCH BELOW: Omar Khadr will have to wait a week to find out if his bail conditions will be eased. As Fletcher Kent explains, Khadr wants to travel and speak privately with his sister while he waits for an appeal of his U.S. war crimes conviction. (Aired Dec. 13, 2018)

He said his client has lived quietly for years, is happily married, follows bail conditions to the letter and poses no threat. Khadr’s affidavit says he has been to Toronto eight times without issue since the conditions were imposed.

READ MORE: Why Omar Khadr needs permission to see his controversial sister

It’s the latest of several attempts for relaxed bail conditions. In 2017, a judge denied most of his requests.

Khadr was sent to the notorious U.S. military holding facility at Guantanamo Bay in 2002 after he was captured and accused of throwing a grenade that killed a U.S. soldier in 2002.

He was 15 at the time and says he can’t remember killing the soldier. He says he only confessed to the crime to get out of Guantanamo and into the Canadian justice system.

READ MORE: A chronological look at Omar Khadr’s long legal odyssey

In 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that Khadr’s rights were violated while he was in captivity in the U.S. and that the Canadian government had contributed to that. Khadr settled a lawsuit against Ottawa in 2017 with a $10.5-million payout.

WATCH BELOW: Coverage from recent years of Omar Khadr</s>Omar Khadr will not have his bail conditions relaxed, an Edmonton justice decided Friday.

The justice called his current conditions reasonable and said “they should continue while Mr. Khadr is on bail.”

Now 32, the former Guantanamo Bay detainee asked to be able to travel to Toronto without approval of his bail supervisors, and to make court appearances related to a civil lawsuit filed by the family of an American soldier who was killed in the Afghanistan fight in which Khadr was captured. He also wanted unsupervised conversations with his sister and a Canadian passport to make the hajj to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, a pilgrimage considered obligatory for practicing Muslims.

On bail since May 2015, Khadr has had to contact his bail supervisor when wanting to leave Alberta.

His sister Zaynab, who now lives in the Europe-Asia border country Georgia, has spoken favourably of al-Qaida and was previously investigated by Canada for helping the terrorist network. Khadr’s contact with her was to be supervised.

With files from Sarah Plowman and The Canadian Press
A Canadian judge denies former Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr's request for relaxed bail conditions and a Canadian passport.