Looks like the ABC will be in for awe inspiring ratings tonight (well awe inspiring for the ABC) when they showcase a one-hour Australian Story special on former Guantanamo detainee, David Hicks who speaks for the first time on the Sep 11 terrorist attacks on the US.
While denouncing the attacks as a ‘disgusting act’, Hicksy has some pretty tough work ahead of him to convince the Aussie public that he had no idea who was behind the militant fundamentalist training camps he was a part of. Having admitted that he was shown videos of terrorist attacks and Western aggression towards Muslims wont help his chances. Nor will his admission that he saw leader of Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, who he calls a ‘kind figure’, on numerous occasions. Hmmm…
For those of you that were under a rock a decade ago, or just didn’t really give a damn, Hicks was captured in Afghanistan in December 2001 where he was believed to have been fighting for bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network at the time.
Hicks spent 5 years and 4 months in US military detention at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, where he alleges he was subjected to physical and metal torture, which, lets be honest, is probably not stretching the truth, regardless of what former foreign affairs minister, Alexander Downer says.
Hicks was repatriated back to Oz in May 2007 after pleading guilty to supporting terrorism in a plea deal. He was released from Australian jail later that year.
You can bet this is one of the many media spectacles to be bestowed upon us in the lead up to the 10-year anniversary of the attacks people- you’ve been forewarned!
The feature airs tonight on ABC1 at 8.30pm. Watch the trailer below:
Words by Alena Nickell
