lilithu
The Devil's Advocate
Tony Sernack for The New York Times
SYDNEY, Australia, Saturday, March 3 The decision by the United States military to charge an Australian citizen, David Hicks, with one terrorism-related offense comes as Prime Minister John Howard is under mounting pressure, even from conservatives in his own party, to have Mr. Hicks charged, tried and brought home.http://javascript<b></b>:pop_me_up2...00,scrollbars=yes,toolbars=no,resizable=yes')
A banner near the northern approach to Sydney's Harbour Bridge for the 'Bring David Hicks Home' campaign.
Mr. Hicks is the first detainee from the American base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to be charged under the Military Commissions Act of 2006. But the single charge, of providing material support for terrorism, after Mr. Hicks has been held for five years in Guantánamo, has been met with skepticism, disbelief and some anger here, from conservatives and liberals alike.
The charge, which was announced by the Pentagon in Washington on Thursday, represents a substantial reduction in the case the Bush administration has claimed it has against Mr. Hicks, a high-school dropout who was captured in Afghanistan after the American invasion in 2001.
Only two weeks ago, the American ambassador to Australia, Robert D. McCallum Jr., described the Guantánamo detainees as ruthless fanatics who would kill Australians and Americans without blinking an eye.
Mr. Hicks was initially charged with conspiracy to commit murder and engage in acts of terrorism, attempted murder and aiding the enemy. That was later reduced to attempted murder and providing material support for terrorism.
Now all those charges, except material support, have been dropped, and there is a question if even that will stick. Mr. Hickss lawyers argue that material support was not made a crime until 2006, five years after Mr. Hicks trained with Al Qaeda.
The relatively minor, single charge after such a long detention means theyve botched it, said Barnaby Joyce, a federal senator for Australias conservative National Party, which is part of the governing coalition. Theyve completely abused the process of justice.
Mr. Joyce is one of an increasing number of conservative politicians and others who have joined the Bring David Hicks Home movement, which has gained considerable momentum here in the last few months.
In fact, the case has generated such political outrage that members of Mr. Howards own center-right Liberal Party acknowledge that it is hurting the prime minister in his bid for re-election this year.
For nearly five years, Mr. Howard, one of President Bushs most stalwart supporters, was generally content to allow Mr. Hicks to remain in Guantánamo. But in recent weeks, he has been forced to take account of the strong shift in public opinion around the case, which has become a major irritant in American-Australian relations.
Last month, Mr. Howard raised the Hicks case directly with President Bush in a telephone call, and again with Vice President Dick Cheney when he was here last week.
Whether the charge finally leveled against Mr. Hicks was the result of my representations to President Bush and Vice President Cheney, I dont know, Mr. Howard told Australian journalists on Friday, as reported by the BBC.
It is an issue that Mr. Hickss lawyers are expected to explore, for if there was any influence of this kind on the bringing of the charge, it could result in the case being dismissed.
Mr. Hickss lawyers are in any case certain to challenge the charge on the grounds that there was no such crime when Mr. Hicks was training with Al Qaeda in Afghanistan in 2001. The United States Constitution prohibits ex post facto laws, but in light of recent laws passed by Congress and various court rulings, it is not certain that Mr. Hicks will be afforded that protection.
The next probable step is that the United States government will try to get Mr. Hicks to plead guilty to this single charge, in exchange for a sentence of time served. That would have him back in Australia soon. Australian officials said this would be acceptable.
The groundswell of support for Mr. Hicks here does not arise because Australians believe that he is innocent, but rather because many here believe he has been denied justice by having been held so long without a regular trial.
He may well be a rat bag, but even rat bags deserve their day in court, is how Senator Joyce put it.
It is about due process of law, the principles we are fighting for in Iraq, he added in an interview. In fighting the barbarians, we are starting to imitate the barbarians.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/03/w...260808d70&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss
SYDNEY, Australia, Saturday, March 3 The decision by the United States military to charge an Australian citizen, David Hicks, with one terrorism-related offense comes as Prime Minister John Howard is under mounting pressure, even from conservatives in his own party, to have Mr. Hicks charged, tried and brought home.http://javascript<b></b>:pop_me_up2...00,scrollbars=yes,toolbars=no,resizable=yes')
A banner near the northern approach to Sydney's Harbour Bridge for the 'Bring David Hicks Home' campaign.
Mr. Hicks is the first detainee from the American base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to be charged under the Military Commissions Act of 2006. But the single charge, of providing material support for terrorism, after Mr. Hicks has been held for five years in Guantánamo, has been met with skepticism, disbelief and some anger here, from conservatives and liberals alike.
The charge, which was announced by the Pentagon in Washington on Thursday, represents a substantial reduction in the case the Bush administration has claimed it has against Mr. Hicks, a high-school dropout who was captured in Afghanistan after the American invasion in 2001.
Only two weeks ago, the American ambassador to Australia, Robert D. McCallum Jr., described the Guantánamo detainees as ruthless fanatics who would kill Australians and Americans without blinking an eye.
Mr. Hicks was initially charged with conspiracy to commit murder and engage in acts of terrorism, attempted murder and aiding the enemy. That was later reduced to attempted murder and providing material support for terrorism.
Now all those charges, except material support, have been dropped, and there is a question if even that will stick. Mr. Hickss lawyers argue that material support was not made a crime until 2006, five years after Mr. Hicks trained with Al Qaeda.
The relatively minor, single charge after such a long detention means theyve botched it, said Barnaby Joyce, a federal senator for Australias conservative National Party, which is part of the governing coalition. Theyve completely abused the process of justice.
Mr. Joyce is one of an increasing number of conservative politicians and others who have joined the Bring David Hicks Home movement, which has gained considerable momentum here in the last few months.
In fact, the case has generated such political outrage that members of Mr. Howards own center-right Liberal Party acknowledge that it is hurting the prime minister in his bid for re-election this year.
For nearly five years, Mr. Howard, one of President Bushs most stalwart supporters, was generally content to allow Mr. Hicks to remain in Guantánamo. But in recent weeks, he has been forced to take account of the strong shift in public opinion around the case, which has become a major irritant in American-Australian relations.
Last month, Mr. Howard raised the Hicks case directly with President Bush in a telephone call, and again with Vice President Dick Cheney when he was here last week.
Whether the charge finally leveled against Mr. Hicks was the result of my representations to President Bush and Vice President Cheney, I dont know, Mr. Howard told Australian journalists on Friday, as reported by the BBC.
It is an issue that Mr. Hickss lawyers are expected to explore, for if there was any influence of this kind on the bringing of the charge, it could result in the case being dismissed.
Mr. Hickss lawyers are in any case certain to challenge the charge on the grounds that there was no such crime when Mr. Hicks was training with Al Qaeda in Afghanistan in 2001. The United States Constitution prohibits ex post facto laws, but in light of recent laws passed by Congress and various court rulings, it is not certain that Mr. Hicks will be afforded that protection.
The next probable step is that the United States government will try to get Mr. Hicks to plead guilty to this single charge, in exchange for a sentence of time served. That would have him back in Australia soon. Australian officials said this would be acceptable.
The groundswell of support for Mr. Hicks here does not arise because Australians believe that he is innocent, but rather because many here believe he has been denied justice by having been held so long without a regular trial.
He may well be a rat bag, but even rat bags deserve their day in court, is how Senator Joyce put it.
It is about due process of law, the principles we are fighting for in Iraq, he added in an interview. In fighting the barbarians, we are starting to imitate the barbarians.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/03/w...260808d70&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss
