Hicks should be tried in US, says PM

[Judi Lynn]

Hicks should be tried in US, says PM
Friday Jun 30 18:43 AEST

Australia says America must deal with David Hicks after the United States' highest court found military commissions set up to try terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay are unlawful.
(snip)

Mr Howard said he didn't want Hicks, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder, conspiracy and aiding the enemy, to return to Australia.

"I don't have any sympathy for somebody who trained with an organisation such as al-Qaeda," he said.

"If he's brought back to Australia he can't be effectively charged because the crimes he committed were not, according to Australian law, crimes at the time he committed them.

"It was not a crime back in 2001 to do as he admitted he did, and that is train with al-Qaeda and rejoin al-Qaeda even after the terrorist attacks on the 11th of September."
(snip/...)

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=109794

:wtf:


http://network.news.com.au/image/0,10114,5154979,00.jpg

John Howard and friend

[Sadie5]

1. Bush's pucker

Bush looks as if he is puckering up for a kiss in both pics. My, but Bush seems like a hands on guy.

[magellan]

2. This is sad

No matter what they've done, people shouldn't be held in legal limbo for years on end.

[DoYouEverWonder]

3. So if Hicks is an Australian

and if what he did was not illegal in his home country, then why does he have to comply with US Law?

[dipsydoodle]

4. Howard is doing what is colloquially known as

bum licking or brown nosing. I think he's as despicable as Tiny Blur.

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. And Blair is washing his hands of the Hicks case

Hicks has been granted British citizenship, sparking hopes the UK Government will lobby the US for his release from Guantanamo Bay.

All nine British detainees were freed after the UK Government argued the military commissions were illegal.

But the British Foreign Office says it will not make representations on Hicks's behalf to the US.

Britain says Hicks was an Australian citizen when he was detained and he has received consular assistance from Australia.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200606/s1672428.htm

This was after this farcial Catch-22 situation:

The United States has denied the British Government consular access to David Hicks at Guantanamo Bay.

The British Government was seeking access so they could register him as a British citizen.
...
The court was told that the British Government had tried to gain access to Hicks to deliver the oath needed before he can register for citizenship.

The US has blocked those attempts because he is not a British citizen.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200606/s1663299.htm

Eventually, a US official administered the oath, so Hicks is now officially a British citizen, but Blair has since told him he doesn't give a toss about his rights.

[Vidar]

5. Howard's the one who belongs in the cell.

[atreides1]

7. No offense intended

Not to offend anyone from Australia, but it was the majority of the Australian people who put Howard back into power.

[Bear down under]

9. Er, not quite.

"Not to offend anyone from Australia, but it was the majority of the Australian people who put Howard back into power."

Howard is Prime Minister because his party, the Liberal/Country Party coalition, won a majority of seats in Parliament -- ie in the House of Representatives -- some by very slender majorities. But the Libs/CP actually got less than 45% of the overall vote. So it's not true to say that "a majority of the Australian people" voted him into power. It's one of the quirks of the Westminster system that this can happen.

[cal04]

8. Hicks Lawyer accuses Government of "flip-flopping" and kowtowing

(snip)
His military lawyer,Major Michael Mori, accused the Australian government of kowtowing to the orders of the Bush administration.

(snip)
Major Mori accused the government of "flip-flopping" on its position with Hicks.

"Two days ago, Mr Downer said that if the Supreme Court found the military commission system was unacceptable they would reconsider David's position," he said. "Now they've flip-flopped and are saying we're not going to change our position or even reconsider."

(snip)
"In the United States, a Taliban spokesperson is attending Yale University, yet David Hicks has been locked up for four-and-a-half years in Guantanamo charged with supposedly aiding the Taliban," he said. "Where's the justice in that? The hypocrisy is so rampant in this process."

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19647199-1702,00.html

[Irreverend IX]

10. When I saw this title...

I thought someone was demanding that all of America's "hicks" (aka hillbillies, trailer trash) be tried for crimes of some sort. Weird.