SHOULD DAVID HICKS BE FREE ?

[surfscracking]

Vote

[Kunji]

Bring him home and stand trial here. At least process him, dont just let him rot in some foriegn land. Thats fair enough dont you think?

[Spoon]

No trial as yet, no charges laid as yet and he has been there for 5 years Imagine if we grabbed some yank who was siding with the indonesians we think and locked him up for 5 years without a trial. I was only thinking about this yesterday and as a nation we should be making alot more noise. The only thing that I can think of was that he took out a few American soldiers which they have proof and the Government can't really argue. :?

[Grooter]

We have allowed them to sodomise him, torture him in foreign lands (rendition) allowed them to circumvent the geneva convention for the humane treatment of prisoners by agreeing to his status as an "unlawful combatant" and agreed that the tactics of stress and duress (sleep deprivation, taunts etc...) can not be considered torture. To name just a few.

It makes me sick.

[mad]

It's bloody appaling that the bloke has been in that hellhole for 5 years whether he's guilty or not and our govt has been complicit.

Bottom line is that he was captured in a 'theatre of war' and is a POW, and should be granted Geneva convention rights.

[yanks r us]

He deserves it.

[surfscracking]

Thanks yanks your reasons are well justified.

[still here]

He should be brought home .

On the face of it , he was fighting for the Taliban , the power of the day in Afghanistan who was at war with the Western Alliance .
The Taliban has been deposed therefore as a "prisoner of war" he should be released . (Geneva Convention )

If he was a terrorist involved in attacks on innocent civilians he should be trialled . But after 5 years where is the proof ?

There are plenty Australian and American and British and French soldiers of fortune in other countries around the world .

[Ninja]

still here has got it right i reckon.

For those that want him brought back here for trial, I am not 100% certain about this, but I seem to recall the problem with that (as far as the Australian Government is concerned ) is that at the time he was captured there was not existent in Australia a law under which he could be charged or prosecuted for anything regarding what he was/is alleged to have done. Thus he would have gone free. That scenario is still the way it is today . So the upshot is that he can't be brought back here for trial as there would be no possible charges under Australian law to answer.

[oldman]

Without going into boring justifications ......

Bring him home. Where is our national self-respect? Stop taking it up the clacker messrs Howard, Rudd and Downer. Stand up for your citizens rights.

No other country has allowed there citizens to be treated so poorly.

[Natho]

Whether Hicks is guilty or not is beside the point.

What the yanks have done is show a total abuse of justice for humanity and the justice system itself. More than just being a stab at David Hicks, Its an arogant stab at all of us that have the right to fair justice as human beings.

If Hicks is guilty then lock him up. But don't suddenly make up charges as you go because the original charges you detained him for went out the window.

Ugly America rears its head once again.

[Nick Carroll]

For those that want him brought back here for trial, I am not 100% certain about this, but I seem to recall the problem with that (as far as the Australian Government is concerned ) is that at the time he was captured there was not existent in Australia a law under which he could be charged or prosecuted for anything regarding what he was/is alleged to have done. Thus he would have gone free. That scenario is still the way it is today . So the upshot is that he can't be brought back here for trial as there would be no possible charges under Australian law to answer.

That scenario was also true in the USA when Hicks was taken to Guantanamo Bay. It's why the US established Guantanamo Bay in a "territory" outside the United States. They wanted somewhere they could hold people indefinitely, without proof of guilt or innocence, outside their country's jurisdiction. The "laws" underpinning some of this -- specially the bits concerning trial of people held in Guantanamo Bay -- were overturned by the US Supreme Court late last year.

The Australian Government doesn't just kiss the Bush Admin's bottom, you know -- it thinks the same way. It established "offshore processing" and similarly held the door shut for years on hundreds of people who'd been fleeing the very Middle-Eastern nightmares that little Johnny said we were sending troops to help end.

We've really got to find a way to save us from Governments.

[deepsouth]

Anyone else find it highly ironic that on one hand they are fighting to give "Democracy" to Iraq and Afghanistan while with the other hand, abusing and making a mockery the very system that they are trying to install in another country?

At the end of the day, I suppose that it needs to be remembered that guilt/innocence are for the legal system to decide. Ok, it might not be perfect but allowing the legal system to work by way of a fair trial is one of the foundations of a good democracy imo.

Democracy US style? F%ck that.

[moreorless]

John Howard has admitted that he could have brought Hicks back to Australia years ago but refused to because it would have sent the wrong signals to "terrorists". Sound familiar?

The government is only beginning to act now because it's less than 10 months to the federal election and their polling tells them that Joe and Jane Public are becoming more and more concerned about the length and circumstances of Hicks' imprisonment.

If we were at a different point in the election cycle or if the issue hadn't started to bite with the public Howard and co would just leave Hicks to rot.

[reggie]

^^
Even Saddam had a trial, and he was captured long after Hicks. I'm sure if the U.S. caught Osama he'd be on the stand within a month - then again who really knows about Bush's ties with the guy.

We should have some balls and put cheeny in a cell. Then use him to make an exchange.

[Karlos]

He deserves it.

Another golden Yanks R Us post. Ho hum.

At the very least, David Hicks deserves a fair & prompt trial, no matter what his crime is/was/may or may not be. the only way he has any chance at that is for him to be sent back to Australia. Either that, or to a country that still has some idea as to what basic human rights are. The USA definitely doesn't fall into that basket.

[smackthatlip]

^^^^^ The US won't catch Osama because they are harbouring him. He played his role in the act of justifying the Americans to do as they please to 'fight terrorism', so now he's being looked after nicely. I mean do you really think that after 5 1/2 yrs the most advanced military in the world along with it's spy satellites that identified Saddam's sons from 10 miles up as they left a restaurant could'nt find Osama. Surely he'd have to leave his cave sometime. The treatment of David Hicks is so bloody wrong it's not funny. Nobody should be held for that long without charge or a trial. As if he'll get a fair trial anyway. I feel sorry for his assigned council Damien Morry. All he wants is for his client to get a fair go but can you imagine the pressure being brought on him by his military superiors!? Shame on the Howard govt too. Just another blight on their human rights record to go with the no-Sorry to Aboriginals, the Children Overboard cock-and -bull story and the general racism against refugees. Add this to the inaction on climate change and rises in interest rates and I think the Howard govt must go. Vote that right-wing, out of touch, arrogant prick out next election and don't make the same mistake they made in the States when they re-elected Bush cos I'm sure the majority regret it now