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| Australian signs Guantanamo plea deal for seven years |
| 2007-03-30 |
| GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - Australian Guantanamo prisoner David Hicks signed a plea agreement that limits his sentence for supporting terrorism against the United States to seven years in prison, the military tribunal judge said on Friday. But it was unclear whether that would include the five years that Hicks has already been held at the U.S. prison camp for foreign terrorism suspects. Appearing at the U.S. military's war crimes tribunal court at Guantanamo on Friday, Hicks acknowledged that he trained with al Qaeda in Afghanistan and fought with its forces against U.S. allies in Afghanistan in late 2001 for two hours and then sold his gun to raise cab fare and tried to flee to Pakistan. He denied having any advance knowledge of the Sept 11 attacks. The 31-year-old former farmhand from Adelaide pleaded guilty on Monday to providing material support for terrorism. Hicks will serve his prison term in Australia. At the tribunal, the military accused Hicks of training with al Qaeda, taking up arms to join the Taliban and fighting U.S. forces and their allies in Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks. Hicks is not accused of actually shooting anyone. A convert to Islam who has since abandoned the faith, he sold his gun to raise cab fare and was captured trying to flee to Pakistan by taxi in December 2001. To finalize his plea, Hicks must convince the judge, Marine Col. Ralph Kohlmann, that he knowingly lent his services to an international terrorist group engaged in an armed conflict with the United States. Hicks was in the first group of prisoners brought to Guantanamo in January 2002 and has said he was abused by his captors, which the U.S. military denies. |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #9 But after he gets out of jail, won't he have to worry about the moderate muslims down under; what with him abandoning the faith and all. Ain't that against the Koran (Muzzie for Dummies) |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2007-03-30 16:45 |
| #8 More details... Hicks...confirmed to the judge that he conducted surveillance on the former American Embassy in Kabul. Hicks, who had complained of abuse in U.S. custody in Afghanistan and at Guantanamo, agrees as part of the deal that he has "never been illegally treated by a person or persons while in the custody of the U.S. government," Kohlmann said. He will also be required to cooperate with U.S. and Australian authorities to share his knowledge of al-Qaida and a militant Pakistani group, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, which helped him travel to Afghanistan to attend terrorist training camps. "Any failure to cooperate with U.S. or Australian law enforcement may delay your release from confinement," Kohlmann said. Another condition of the plea agreement calls for him to hand over to the Australian government any proceeds from selling the rights to his life story, depriving him of an opportunity to cash in on the sought-after details of his crimes and imprisonment. A gag order will prevent him speaking with the media for a year from the sentencing date. Awwww, too bad, Davey. There goes the big payday... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-03-30 15:49 |
| #7 I saw a TV report where Hicks will only serve about a year (or two at most) in Australia before being paroled. I could not believe what I was hearing. The smug Brit reporter on the TV was icing on the cake. |
| Posted by: John Frum 2007-03-30 13:59 |
| #6 "The 31-year-old former farmhand" ....make that former kangaroo skinner, Rooters, to make his dad proud and annoy the algore crowd with facts. |
| Posted by: Phineter Thraviger 2007-03-30 13:34 |
| #5 unfricking believable. The world has truly gone mad. |
| Posted by: Albemarle Slineth4153 2007-03-30 13:15 |
| #4 What's Hicks got to worry about in Australian jails - they still have non-Muslims there? Oh, right, can't arrest the Muzzie criminals - would be racism, and they're the religion of peace and all that. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2007-03-30 13:03 |
| #3 Where is the justice in that? He's going to serve it in an Aussie jail, where he'll become some hairy ape's sheila, if they don't just plain kill him. I doubt many Aussies approve of Hicks' behavior. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2007-03-30 12:24 |
| #2 Hmm. Johnny Taliban gets 20 years w/o the possibility of parole for his guilty plea and Hicks gets only 7, possibly getting off with time served. It was never confirmed that Johnny Taliban ever shot at anybody, while this piece of garbage has admitted to it on 3 countries and even returned to Afganistan to kill Americans (and Australians). Where is the justice in that? |
| Posted by: ed 2007-03-30 11:40 |
| #1 Once he gets his book deal and speaking tour, he's unlikely to screw it up with any recidivist tendancies... |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2007-03-30 10:51 |