Maha Khadr, the mother of the only Western citizen still detained by the U.S. military in Guantanamo prison, wants the Canadian government to defend her son's legal rights.

Khadr spoke with CTV's The Verdict in an exclusive interview that will air Monday on Newsnet at 9 p.m. ET.

Omar Khadr was 15 when American soldiers captured him in Afghanistan in 2002. He has remained under U.S. custody in Guantanamo, Cuba ever since.

"If he's caused anybody harm, I would love them to treat him fairly and punish him," said Khadr. "But leaving him five years without anything, we feel like he's not alive and he's not dead."

Toronto-born Omar Khadr, now 21, is charged with killing an American medic when he allegedly threw a grenade during a firefight in Afghanistan. U.S. officials have also charged him with attempted murder, planting bombs, spying for al Qaeda and conspiring with Osama bin Laden.

Khadr said her son is innocent of all those charges and deserves to come home.

"Omar never attacked anybody," she said.

Legal and security analysts are unsure whether the military commission even has jurisdiction over her son's case. A U.S. military judge is expected to rule on the issue at a hearing on Nov. 8.

"We don't know what his status is," said John Thompson, president of the Toronto-based Mackenzie Institute which studies political instability and terrorism. "He's not a criminal. He's not a prisoner of war. He's something else. And the law is still being decided on this."

Omar Khadr's lawyers have taken his case to the federal U.S. Court of Appeals, while government lawyers have argued he must first face trial in Guantanamo before his appeal can be heard in a non-military court.

Britain, France and Australia have fought for the release of their citizens from the prison, arguing the court does not meet international standards of justice.

Khadr said she's frustrated Canada's government has been mostly silent on the issue.

"Nothing has been proven against him," said Khadr. "They keep dropping the charges. They keep changing the court. They keep switching things."

Ottawa's reluctance to get involved may be because of the family's troubled past and purported connections with terrorists.

The late father, Egyptian-born Ahmed Said Khadr, was alleged to have been an al Qaeda financier. He was killed in 2003 in Pakistan, when a military helicopter attacked a house where he was staying with senior al Qaeda operatives.

One of Omar Khadr's brothers, Abdullah Khadr, has been accused of supplying weapons to al Qaeda and is currently being held in Canada on a U.S. extradition warrant.

"Obviously, they are a notorious family here in Canada," said Alexander Neve of Amnesty International. "And I think that's one of the reasons why politicians have not had an appetite to take up Mr. Khadr's case."

Khadr said she only wants her son to be treated as any other Canadian citizen, and for his country to defend his legal rights.

"I don't want extra sympathy," she said. "I want Omar to be treated fairly."

With a report by CTV's Paula Todd in Toronto