Omar Khadr to appear in Edmonton court on Monday

Former Guantanamo Bay inmate Omar Khadr is expected tomake his first appearance in public since American soldiers capturedhim as a badly wounded 15-year-old in Afghanistan 11 years ago.

Khadr will be in an Edmonton courtroom Monday for an application to have his ongoing detention in an adult prison declared illegal.

"I want them to see Omar Khadr," his lawyer Dennis Edney saidin an interview. "I don't want him hidden away."

The Toronto-born Khadr, who turned 27 last week, will not speakduring the hearing before the Court of Queen's Bench, expected tolast the day.

A spokeswoman for Correctional Service Canada confirmed an orderhad been made for Khadr to appear in court.

Khadr'slawyers argue for youth sentence

Khadr's last court appearance was when he pleaded guilty to fivewar crimes in October 2010 before a U.S. military commission inGuantanamo Bay, where a few select people were allowed to watch theproceedings in person.

In exchange for his guilty plea, he was given an eight-yearsentence.

The federal government, which opposes the application, arguesKhadr has been appropriately placed in an adult maximum securityfacility.

The legal arguments underpinning the application and government'sresponse are technical and based on provisions of the InternationalTransfer of Offenders Act.

Essentially, they boil down to whether his eight-year term shouldbe construed as a single youth sentence for all five offences, ashis lawyers argue. That would mean he should be serving his time ina provincial facility rather than a federal penitentiary.

For its part, the government argues Khadr received five separatebut concurrent sentences of eight years each.

That would mean his sentence for murder in violation of the lawsof war would be considered as a youth sentence in Canada, but thepunishment for the other four crimes, including attempted murder andspying, would be considered as adult sentences.

"The International Transfer of Offenders Act makes no provisionsfor the sentence to be treated partially as a youth sentence and asan adult sentence," Edney said.

"The military commission process doesn't recognize concurrent orconsecutive sentences; all they do is they give the globalsentence."

The application names Kelly Hartle, the prison's warden, asrespondent. Neither Hartle nor justice officials responded to arequest for information.

Questions over threat posed

Transferred to Canada in September 2012, Khadr was firstincarcerated largely in isolation at the maximum security MillhavenInstitution in eastern Ontario before moving to the maximum securityEdmonton Institution in May.

The federal government, which blocked a request by The CanadianPress earlier this year to interview him, insists Khadr is adangerous terrorist who deserves to be treated as such.

"Khadr pleaded guilty to heinous crimes," Public SafetyMinister Steven Blaney said in a statement Sunday.

"The government of Canada will vigorously defend against anyattempted court action to see him allowed onto Canadian streetssooner."

Alberta Justice refused to say whether officials were taking anyspecial security precautions for Monday's appearance.

However, his supporters, including those who know him best, argueKhadr poses no danger to anyone.

Even the federal prison ombudsman appealed to CorrectionalService Canada earlier this year to rethink its classification ofhim as a high security risk.

"He poses no threat to Canada, even though they say he does,"Edney said.

In the interim, Khadr has been upgrading his education at theEdmonton prison.He was eligible for full parole July 1 but has yet to apply.