David Hicks Returns to Oz, Must Say He Was "Treated Fairly"

by Jordan Yerman | May 20, 2007 at 09:11 am

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That a gag order was part of David Hicks' plea bargain is very telling; also, if he was really such a dangerous element, why would they let him off with nine months' incarceration, when they could have held him more or less indefinitely at the tip of Cuba? I'm not suggesting he's necessarily innocent, but this development raises more questions in the David Hicks case than it answers.

Hicks was accused of attending al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and conducting surveillance on the British and American embassies as part of his training.

He had spent only two hours on the Taliban front line before it collapsed in November 2001 under attack by U.S. Special Forces and the Northern Alliance.

While fleeing, Hicks came across a group of Arab fighters who told him they were heading back to the front to fight to the death. Hicks declined to join them and was captured as he tried to escape into Pakistan, according to the military's charge sheet.

As part of his plea deal, Hicks agreed to a 12-month order prohibiting him from talking to the media and stated he had "never been treated illegally" since he was captured in Afghanistan and taken to Guantanamo.

He is due to be released at the end of December, and the Australian attorney general has said he may be free to speak to the media about his ordeal, despite the U.S. gag order.