David Hicks is one step closer to having his name completely cleared, after it emerged that the US Government has apparently admitted that he is innocent of all charges levelled against him relating to providing material support to terrorist activities.
In 2001, Hicks was captured by US-backed officials in Afghanistan and was subsequently transported to the infamous Guantanamo Bay prison facility in Cuba. Hicks was among the first batch of prisoners to be taken to the military-run facility following the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington D.C. and the subsequent implementation of the extraordinarily controversial Patriot Act by then-US President George W. Bush.
Hicks was held without formal charge for five-and-a-half years by the US Government and its military, during that time it is claimed he suffered severe torture at the hands of US officials, including beatings and psychological assaults (being short shackled to the floor in a room with the temperature lowered to below 10 degrees and flooding the room with strobe lights that highlight macabre images, with prisoners often left in this position overnight, sometimes even days at a time).
Eventually, in 2007, Hicks signed what’s known as an Alford plea – a guilty conviction that records no admissions and prevents the signee from appealing at any stage. Hicks was extradited back to Australia, where he spent seven months in solitary confinement at Adelaide’s Yatala Labour Prison, before being released on December 29th, 2007. No formal trial was ever afforded to him.
Now, over seven years later, and thanks to a protracted legal battle, Hicks appears on the verge of having his conviction quashed completely. Fairfax Media is reporting that Hicks’ lawyers have been told by US Government officials that his conviction was invalid, and that the Government “does not dispute that he is innocent of any offence and his conviction was not correct in fact or law.”
The case closely mirrors a similar one that emerged from Guantanamo Bay, where a Sudanese former-detainee had his conviction for material support – again, brought against him after signing an Alford plea – completely erased by a military commission.
An Alford Plea is a US legal plea where a defendant pleads guilty, despite maintaining their innocence, because they recognise their chances of being found not guilty are non-existent. It is not recognised and is not in practise in Australia.
Hicks’ legal team hopes that a US Military Commission will make a ruling on his exoneration within a month.
via SMH.
