US charges Australian David Hicks
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David Hicks of Australia became the first to be charged under the new Military Commissions Act as he appeared before a military judge at Guantanamo Bay to face charges of providing material support to a terrorist organization. The 31-year-old Australian's lawyers have been considering a plea bargain, in hopes he can be handed to Australian custody. It is alleged that Hicks, a Muslim convert, attended al-Qaeda training camps and fought with the Taliban. He was captured in 2001 in Afghanistan where, according to his father, he was on a religious
David Hicks of Australia became the first to be charged under the new Military Commissions Act as he appeared before a military judge at Guantanamo Bay to face charges of providing material support to a terrorist organization. The 31-year-old Australian's lawyers have been considering a plea bargain, in hopes he can be handed to Australian custody. It is alleged that Hicks, a Muslim convert, attended al-Qaeda training camps and fought with the Taliban. He was captured in 2001 in Afghanistan where, according to his father, he was on a religious pilgrimage.
Hicks sought to expand his defense team, but two of his lawyers were disqualified by the military judge. One of them, Joshua Dratel, refused to sign a document setting out the rules for the tribunal. Hicks said he was "shocked" to lose another lawyer.
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Licensed archive reporting by Wikinews contributors. Text: CC BY 2.5 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/). Original source date retained. 411 has not independently verified this archive report.
Read the source: Wikinews ↗Source published 26 Mar 2007, 05:30 am IST
