Attorney-General George Brandis surprised by run-in with 'terrorist' David Hicks at human rights awards night

Updated

Federal Attorney-General George Brandis has labelled David Hicks a "terrorist", after the former Guantanamo Bay detainee confronted him at a function in Sydney last night.

"You don't expect to run into a terrorist at a human rights awards event," Senator Brandis told a senate committee hearing this morning.

Senator Brandis was wrapping up a speech at a Human Rights Commission awards presentation at Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Arts last night when Mr Hicks began heckling him.

"I was tortured for five-and-a-half years in Guantanamo Bay in the full knowledge of your party. What do you have to say?" Mr Hicks said.

Senator Brandis said he was not initially aware of the heckler's identity.

"There was a random individual, who turned out to be a terrorist, yelling at the side of a room for about three seconds," he said, adding he never felt his personal safety was threatened.

"The closest I came to the man who was shouting, who turned out to be David Hicks, was at least 10 or 15 metres away."

The Attorney-General ended his speech and exited the stage during the outburst.

Mr Hicks called the senator a "coward" for failing to answer his questions.

Senator raises concerns over security 'breakdown'

Coalition senator Ian Macdonald, a member of the senate committee hearing evidence from Senator Brandis, raised concerns over security.

"I'm not blaming the [Australian Federal Police] for this, but this does seem to be a bit of a security breakdown," Senator Macdonald said.

The AFP confirmed Senator Brandis was provided bodyguards for the event, but they were not aware Mr Hicks had planned to attend.

Senator Brandis and AFP Commissioner Andrew Colvin said according to their records, Mr Hicks was not on the official guest list for the function.

The ABC understands Mr Hicks and his father Terry bought tickets to the dinner through Mr Hicks's lawyer Stephen Kenny.

Mr Kenny was a nominee for an award, due in part to his work representing Mr Hicks.

Mr Kenny told the ABC that Terry and David Hicks wore pre-printed name tags at the event.

"David Hicks, both in his book and also in his plea bargain document, confesses to acts which under Australian law... we define as terrorism offences," Senator Brandis told the committee.

Since his release from Guantanamo Bay, Mr Hicks has maintained his confession was obtained under duress.

Heckling was unplanned says lawyer

Mr Kenny told ABC News Breakfast the outburst was unplanned and that Mr Hicks was not aware Senator Brandis would be speaking at the event.

"I think David was surprised to find Minister Brandis there, talking about human rights, when he was a member of the Howard government who had so completely ignored David's human rights," Mr Kenny said.

Last night's dinner coincided with the release in Washington of a US congressional report into the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) history of torturing terrorist suspects.

The report revealed a vastly wider program of what the CIA has termed "enhanced interrogation techniques" during the period when Mr Hicks was detained in Guantanamo Bay.

"The Australian Government should be held to account how they allowed David Hicks to be treated," Mr Kenny said.

"Our real legal argument is that the offence to which he pleaded guilty to, simply does not exist in international or indeed Australian or American law."

Topics: rights, human, terrorism, defence-and-national-security, sydney-2000, australia

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