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Guantanamo hearing for Australian Hicks to begin Guantanamo trials
(about 3 hours later)
David Hicks, the Australian detainee at Guantanamo Bay, is expected to make a lengthy statement when he appears before a US military court on Monday. Australian David Hicks is set to become the first Guantanamo Bay detainee to attend a hearing under revised US military tribunal rules.
His Australian-based lawyer said he would probably address the legitimacy of the military tribunal process. His lawyers said they may plea bargain to avoid a full trial and try to have him handed into Australian custody.
He is the first detainee to be charged under the new Military Commissions Act, accused of training and fighting with al-Qaeda and the Taleban. Otherwise, Mr Hicks should proceed to the full trial by July.
His case should proceed to a full trial by July, under the US military rules. David Hicks is the first to be charged under the new Military Commissions Act, accused of training and fighting with al-Qaeda and the Taleban.
First embrace 'Razor denied'
When David Hicks first appeared before a US military commission in August 2004 he uttered just six words: "Sir, to all charges, not guilty". One of Mr Hicks's defence team, David McLeod, said nothing had yet been decided on a possible plea bargain.
class="" href="/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3044386.stm">Profile: David Hicks He said the five years his client had spent at the Cuban base had "begun to take a toll".
But when he goes before the commission at Guantanamo Bay his legal team says he will be much more expansive. "Today he had dark, sunken eyes and he looked very tired," Mr McLeod said after a meeting with Mr Hicks on Sunday.
Along with pleading not guilty to the charge of providing material support for terrorism, the 31-year-old is likely to make a longer statement criticising what he sees as the injustice of the military commission process. "If it was yourself I suspect you would be thinking about how to get out of this place."
He may also raise the conditions in which he is being held - a tiny cell for 22 hours each day. class="" href="/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3044386.stm">Profile: David Hicks class="" href="/1/hi/world/americas/5134328.stm">Q&A: Military tribunals
Terry Hicks, his father, has travelled from Adelaide to attend what's expected to be an hour-long arraignment hearing. Mr McLeod said his client had grown long hair so he could pull it over his eyes at night to keep out the light and allow him to get to sleep.
It will be the first time he's seen his son since August last year and the first time he'll be allowed to touch and embrace him. Mr Hicks wanted to shave his beard but had been denied a razor, the lawyer said.
Terry Hicks said his son's mental state was a huge concern and that his condition had deteriorated in recent months. Mr McLeod said his client had not seen his father, Terry Hicks, since August 2004, and was approaching the hearing with "trepidation".
The hearing will set out a schedule for the full trial which, under military commission rules, should take place by July. "He doesn't have a lot of confidence in the process," Mr McLeod said.
Criticism
Mr Hicks arrived in Guantanamo Bay in early 2002 after being captured in Afghanistan a month earlier. He was accused of attending al-Qaeda training camps and fighting with the Taleban.
This criticism that we've created some novel Frankenstein, cobbled-together kind of system is totally inaccurate Col Moe Davischief prosecutor
Mr Hicks, 31, a former farm hand, did appear before a previous military tribunal, in August 2004.
However, the US Supreme Court last year ruled the system unconstitutional.
The administration of President George W Bush then tabled a revised tribunal system that was passed by Congress.
Chief prosecutor Col Moe Davis said prosecutors would recommend a sentence of about 20 years and defended the new tribunal system.
"This criticism that we've created some novel Frankenstein, cobbled-together kind of system is totally inaccurate. We've got nothing to be ashamed of and we're going to tell our story."
The US has said it plans to use the new system to prosecute about 80 of the remaining 385 or so prisoners at the camp.
Human rights activists say those prosecuted are not given the same protections granted by the regular US judicial system.