Latest to Fall under Harper's Muzzle: Omar Khadr

[Oscar]

Latest to Fall under Harper's Muzzle: Omar Khadr

[ http://thetyee.ca/Mediacheck/2014/07/30 ... mar-Khadr/ ]

We'll never know his side of the story, so long as the PM keeps media away.

By Steve Sullivan, 30 Jul 2014, iPolitics

EXCERPT:

What is Harper afraid of?

Corrections Canada said it is blocking media access to Khadr because media exposure would not be good for him -- that he should not seek to increase his notoriety. That explanation is suspect, though. When Khadr was at Millhaven, the warden approved a media request for an interview. Ninety minutes after finding out, then-public safety minister Vic Toews' office sent an email to the warden scuttling that decision: "This interview is not approved."

Since then, CSC has faithfully followed the government's orders. Most prison inmates have access to the media. The commissioner's directives outline when access can be denied -- basically in cases which pose a threat to prison security or might interfere with a prisoner's corrections plan. Current inmates to whom that policy applies include serial killers Robert Pickton and Paul Bernardo.

Without access to Khadr's own version of events, the federal government's narrative is simpler and easier to defend: Khadr was a terrorist then so he must be one now, and his age does not minimize what he did. But what is Harper afraid of? Is it possible that the adult Omar Khadr might change some people's minds about the person he is today?