Fair Trial for David Hicks

Hicks is accused of being an ‘illegal enemy combatant’ because he was not wearing a standard uniform. Mori argues that standard uniforms were neither part of the kit used by the US backed Afghan ‘Northern Alliance’ or CIA operatives

Originally Hicks was accused of attempted murder even though Hicks never shot at anyone. The charge have now changed to providing material support to terrorism. This involves a retrospective application of a law which did not exist when David Hicks was captured in Afganistan.

Hicks is now being tried by a new military commission. Because the original military commission was ruled illegal by the US Supreme Court, it has now been reorganised under new legislation. However Mori maintains that the charges are still fanciful and his basic rights are still being denied.

David Hicks has been interned for five years, two years of which he spent in solitary confinement. His torturous imprisonment does not seem to be nearing an end. The hypocrisy is that the Howard Government has abandoned an Australian citizen to military imprisonment with with far less rights than the US military subjects its own citizens.