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| Down Under |
| Hicks applies for UK passport |
| 2005-09-25 |
| DAVID Hicks has applied for British citizenship in a bid to get out of Guantanamo Bay and avoid a US military commission. During a discussion about the Ashes cricket series with his Pentagon lawyer Michael Mori, Mr Hicks, 30, revealed his mother was British and had never taken out Australian citizenship. A law change in 2002 - when Mr Hicks was in the Cuban prison camp - entitled him to register as a British national. The British Government refused to allow any of its nine inmates at Guantanamo Bay to be tried by military commission because it said the trials failed to uphold basic standards of international justice. It successfully demanded the repatriation of its citizens and all were set free. Major Mori, who has argued Mr Hicks was accused of nothing worse than the British, lodged an application on Mr Hicks' behalf at the British Embassy in Washington DC on September 16. He has yet to receive a response. Mr Hicks' father, Terry, said yesterday that when Major Mori rang him and suggested the idea, he had no idea the rule had changed regarding citizenship. "I said 'Go for it mate'," Terry Hicks said. "If the Australian Government can't bloody help him, let's see if the English can." Terry Hicks said he separated from David's mother "many, many years ago" and she did not want to be named or become involved. She still lives in Adelaide and Terry subsequently remarried Bev. Until 2002, only children of British fathers could apply to register as British nationals. Terry Hicks was unsure whether David would be allowed to return to Australia if he became a British national and was released from Guantanamo. "The Australian Government will probably say 'You can have him, we don't want him'," he said. "This will now bring a bit of pressure to bear on different factions." A spokeswoman for Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said it was a private matter. "The Attorney-General won't comment about any individual citizenship matter," she said. Any other issues regarding Mr Hicks' citizenship case were hypothetical, she added. Major Mori could not be contacted yesterday but told Britain's Observer newspaper the citizenship application began with a chance discussion at Guantanamo Bay when Major Mori told Mr Hicks Australia had lost the Ashes to England. "He told me he never felt very partisan about the Ashes and wouldn't much mind if England took the series because his mum had never claimed Aussie nationality and still carried a UK passport," Major Mori said. "My jaw hit the floor. I asked him: 'Do you realise that may mean you're legally a Brit?'." |
| Posted by:Glase Elmomock2085 |
| #2 unfortunate involuntary hunger strike? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-09-25 21:17 |
| #1 Hummmm.... Slick Hicks nixed on pix fix, sick. |
| Posted by: Shamu 2005-09-25 20:08 |