AUSTRALIA: Former Guantanamo Bay prisoner, Australian David Hicks, lodges an appeal against his conviction in the United States

Record ID: 190060

  • Title: AUSTRALIA: Former Guantanamo Bay prisoner, Australian David Hicks, lodges an appeal against his conviction in the United States
  • Date: 6th November 2013
  • Summary: GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA (FILE - MARCH 30, 2007) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (AGENCY POOL) EXTERIOR OF U.S. NAVAL BASE U.S. FLAG FLYING AT BASE EXTERIOR OF BASE U.S. FLAG
  • Embargoed: 21st November 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Australia, Cuba
  • City:
  • Country: Cuba Australia
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA1XPIZKUIUTHYZNG33SYOKH7ZY
  • Story Text: Former Guantanamo Bay prisoner, Australian David Hicks, has lodged an appeal against his conviction in the U.S. for supporting terrorism.
    Hicks told journalists in Sydney on Wednesday (November 6) that he wants to right the wrongs committed against him.

    "There are two points of importance within this appeal. The first is that I was detained for an inexcusable five and a half years, or six years including here in Australia as well, without my having committed an offence. And secondly that I was tortured throughout that period. This included physical beatings, a number of psychological methods and medical experimentation," Hicks said.
    During his five years at Guantanamo, the man known as the "Aussie Taliban" was beaten, threatened with deadly violence, sexually assaulted, deprived of sleep for long periods and told that he would never again set foot in his native land, his lawyers said.
    The former kangaroo skinner was despondent and suicidal when he pleaded guilty in March 2007 to providing material support for terrorism, they said.
    The plea deal made Hicks the first person convicted in a U.S. war crimes tribunal since World War Two and allowed him to return to Australia to finish his nine-month sentence.

    "The charge of providing material support for terrorism simply does not exist in international law. We've known all along that that is the case but it was part of the deal that David had to do to get out of Guantanamo Bay," said Hicks' lawyer Stephen Kelly.
    The 37-year-old South Australian, who now works as a panel beater, said his plea was made under duress.

    "It is important for myself and my family and those who were supporting me and had faith in me over the years. It will help in closure and moving forward for sure," Hicks said.
    In the appeal, his lawyers argued that the Guantanamo tribunal had no jurisdiction to charge Hicks with material support and that the conviction should be thrown out because the plea deal was coerced.
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