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| Terror Networks & Islam |
| Pentagon sets David Hicks trial date |
| 2005-09-26 |
| David Hicks, the only Australian held at Guantanamo Bay, will be tried before a special US military commission on November 18, the Pentagon says. Hicks, 30, will be the first Guantanamo detainee to be tried by the commissions. He faces charges of conspiracy, attempted murder by an unprivileged belligerent and aiding the enemy. "The presiding officer has set the date for the first hearing in the Hicks commission for November 18," Pentagon spokesman Major Michael Shavers said. The first phase of the trial is expected to last three to five days and deal with motions filed by the defence. A federal appeals court ruling in July reaffirmed US President George W Bush's authority to order trials of "war on terror" detainees by the special military commissions. Hicks was captured in Afghanistan while allegedly fighting alongside the radical Taliban Islamic militia against US-led forces who invaded after the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. Three other detainees at Guantanamo face charges and trial by military commission: Salim Ahmed Hamdan, Ali Hamza al Bahlul of Yemen and Ibrahim al-Qosi of Sudan. Hicks's lawyers have lodged an application for Hicks to obtain a UK passport after recently learning that his mother is British. With Britain refusing to recognise the United States military commission system, Hicks's lawyers are hopeful he could be released if his citizenship application is approved. All nine British Guantanamo inmates were freed when their Government decided they would not receive a fair trial under the military justice system. The citizenship application is not expected to be processed before the trial. |
| Posted by:Oztralian [AKA] God Save The World |
| #1 I doubt he will garner much sympathy from the British public after the bus/train bombings so we could convict and dispatch with Mr. Hick with nothing more than a whimper. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2005-09-26 19:01 |