Posted by Cathy Taggart I hope that the last bit at least is true: whatever the shortcomings of Australian jails, they must seem like "heaven" compared to Guantanamo Bay, and above all he will be closer to his family. However, it's impossible to avoid the suspicion that he only pleaded guilty because he knew he wouldn't get a fair trial anyway, so he may as well make things a bit easier for himself. While the issue may soon fade away from the media, the fact that this injustice was perpetrated - with no real protest from the Australian government - will linger on forever. Cathy. P.S: Many thanks, Kevin, for the e-mail you sent me back in February. I had hoped to reply earlier, but our computer has been somewhat temperamental over the last couple of months, and the problem has only just been rectified.
on March 27, 2007, 1:02 pm, in reply to "David Hicks and spinning Political Balls"
I've just heard on the radio that David Hicks has pleaded guilty, as the result of a plea bargain that will mean he will get a lighter sentence, and that he will be able to serve it in Australia.
--Previous Message--
: I suppose we are as a friend of mine has just
: written to me, petty-much David Hicks-ed out
: at the moment. There seems no doubt that
: Hicks was up to no good - even words from
: letters to his father indicate his
: commitment to the jihadist cause. However
: he has been locked up for five years till
: the Yanks could invent a law under which he
: could be charged.
:
: This is a most tedious injustice of course,
: and a political nuisance to leaders here and
: in the US as they try to come up with a
: legal way of dealing with Hicks and other
: detainees.
:
: Legal but hardly just in its delay, in its
: proposed process which practically
: guarantees a guilty finding, and in its
: sheer inhumanity.
:
: Hicks should have been tried and his alleged
: crimes investigated and ruled on years' ago.
: Chances are he should now be serving a
: sentence for those alleged crimes. Still he
: languishes without any sense of a future, or
: a clear story of his past revealed.
:
: Now that John Howard is feeling the heat
: from his own back-benchers and the polls, he
: is making noises about bringing Hicks home
: before the election!! He could serve his
: time here if he is ssentenced. Why the
: sudden urgency in the Prime Minister?
:
: Again, as with the water issue and that of
: global warming, Howard only moves when the
: voters indicate he must move, and not when
: he thinks it is a genuinely good thing to
: do.
:
: There's no law against that of course, but
: I'm sure someone could make a good case for
: coming up with one!
:
Message Thread:
« Back to thread