Thursday, February 19, 2015

David Hicks wins legal challenge

Australia's David Hicks, a former prisoner at the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, has won a legal challenge to his terrorism conviction before a military court in Cuba.

Mr Hicks was held at Guantanamo Bay from January 2002 until May 2007, when he pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorism in a plea bargain that suspended all but nine months of his sentence and allowed him to return home to Australia.

Last year, an appeals court ruled material support was not a legally viable war crime but prosecutors argued the conviction should stand because Mr Hicks agreed not to appeal as part of the plea deal, an argument that has now been rejected by the US Court of Military Commission Review.

Wells Dixon from the Centre for Constitutional Rights said Mr Hicks was aware of the decision and was thrilled. 

"We are very happy for David," he said.

"Today's decision is a powerful reminder that he committed no crime, he is innocent of any offence.

"David Hicks can now be truly free of Guantanamo."


Stephen Kenny, Mr Hick's lawyer in Australia, said the decision confirmed his client's innocence.

"Well it means David Hicks' conviction has been set aside and he's been declared an innocent man so it confirms what we knew all along," he said.

"David Hicks was innocent and that has formally been recorded by the military commission itself."

Mr Hicks' father, Terry Hicks, said he was relieved that years of legal battles and uncertainty had come to an end.

"David would be pretty elated about it at the moment as well," he said.

"It's been a long road which has finally now come to an end.

"It's pretty hard to take in at the moment."

Mr Hicks said now that his son's case was finalised, life could go back to "normal".

"We can get on with what we want to do without the worry of how things are going with court cases," he said.

"That's the end of it."


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