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| Down Under |
| David Hicks Dad may be called as key prosecution witness after calling his son a terrorist |
| 2007-03-06 |
| THE father of Australian terror suspect David Hicks could be called as a key prosecution witness in his son's trial after calling his son a "terrorist", the US military chief prosecutor said today. Chief prosecutor at the US Office of Military Commissions, Colonel Morris Davis, said he has evidence of Terry Hicks referring to his son as a "terrorist". Mr Hicks is a vocal supporter of his son and has been a key figure in the campaign to have him released from the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and returned to Australia. But Col Davis said Mr Hicks referred to his son as a "terrorist" in an interview soon after it became public Hicks had been picked up in Afghanistan in December 2001 and put in US custody. "The very first interviews I can find when someone referred to him as a terrorist was Terry Hicks," Col Davis said. "The first time he was interviewed, Terry Hicks described the phone call with David in September (2001) after 9/11 and David was in Pakistan and said he was going to go back to Afghanistan. "Terry Hicks said he tried to talk him out of it and told him he shouldn't be taking up arms against his own. "I think his quote was 'He's 26 years old, he's his own man, and I can't tell him what to do. In our eyes he's a terrorist because he took up arms against his own'. "I would tend to agree with Terry Hicks." Asked if Mr Hicks could be called as a prosecution witness or his comments used to bolster the prosecution case, Col Davis said: "Possibly". "I'm not the lead prosecutor in the case so I don't want to commit him to a particular strategy or not, but certainly Terry Hicks has changed his tune considerably since that time," Col Davis said. "But, on day one, he's the first one I can find anywhere that refers to David Hicks being a terrorist." Col Davis said the prosecution was still open to a plea deal and if Hicks did plead guilty he could be back in Australia "walking free" this year. Col Davis said he could be open to a plea deal of 10 to 20 years imprisonment. If the sentence was the 10 years, and Hicks was sent back to Australia to serve it, Col Davis said it was his understanding Hicks's five years jail at Guantanamo could be taken into account. Col Davis said the matter had been discussed with Hicks's US military lawyer, Major Michael Mori. "In my understanding in talking to Major Mori that there is a strong possibility or likelihood or expectation the Australian Government would credit whatever time he spent in Guantanamo once he gets back to Australia they would apply the credit," Col Davis said. "Depending on the length of the sentence, there's a strong possibility he would be parole ready once he got back to Australia. "I'm certainly no expert on the Australian parole system, but the way it was presented to me, if it was reasonably accurate, it's possible, and I can't say it's probable or likely, but it's possible he could be back home and walking free by the end of the year." |
| Posted by:Snuling Gloling9123 |
| #2 David Hicks lesson 1: Take no prisoners on the battlefield. The intel you get will not be worth the long drawn out legal battle which result in the enemy walking free. Instead, shoot enemy combatants on the battlefield or outsource interrogation to locals, then execute. Do not move from the battlefield alive. |
| Posted by: anon1 2007-03-06 21:26 |
| #1 Oh, well. There goes next year's Father of the Year award.. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-03-06 11:48 |