David Hicks welcomes victory in appeal against terrorism conviction, says he won't seek official apology

Updated

Australian David Hicks has welcomed the decision of an American military court to set aside his terrorism conviction, but says he will not be seeking an official apology.

Mr Hicks, a former prisoner at the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, has won a legal challenge to his terrorism conviction before a military court in Cuba.

At a press conference in Sydney today he thanked the Australian public for its support and said he was "looking forward to getting on with my life now that my name has been cleared".

"I am sure no-one is surprised by today's long-awaited acknowledgement by the government of the US of my innocence," Mr Hicks said.

While he said he was not going to seek an official apology or compensation, he said "someone" should be responsible for his medical expenses, including dental work and back, knee and elbow operations.

"It is becoming an expensive exercise to fix myself from torture," Mr Hicks said.

"Being kept in freezing conditions, small rooms for years, not being able to move or exercise.

"The body deteriorates over five-and-a-half years even without the added torture, such as stress positions, being beaten, etc."

Worry about current, not past threats: Abbott

When Prime Minister Tony Abbott was asked ahead of the press conference if Mr Hicks's conviction should be overturned, he advised Australians not to "fret" about an old terrorist threat.

"This is a matter for the lawyers. I will leave it for the lawyers," Mr Abbott said.

"If I may say so, the important thing is not to fret about an old terrorist threat, it's to focus on the current terrorist threat which is real, which is serious."

Sorry, this video has expired Video: Hicks wins appeal to US military court (ABC News)

Mr Hicks was held at Guantanamo Bay from January 2002 until May 2007, when he pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorism in a plea bargain that suspended all but nine months of his sentence and allowed him to return to Australia.

The then-Howard government was criticised for not doing enough to represent an Australian citizen being held in a foreign prison.

Mr Abbott said Australia "did what was needed" to help Mr Hicks.

"Let's not forget whatever the legalities, and this was essentially a matter for an American court dealing with American law, he was up to no good on his own admission," the Prime Minister said.

"I'm not in the business of apologising for the actions that Australian governments take to protect our country."

Overnight, the US Court of Military Commission Review set aside Mr Hicks's guilty plea and sentence.

The court ruled Mr Hicks's decision to forego his right of appeal as part of his plea bargain was invalid because it was not filed in time.

"There is insufficient indication ... that the appellant reiterated his desire not to appeal within 10 days," the commission's judgment said.

"Thus we hold that the waiver is invalid and unenforceable.

"Both parties agree that the appellant's conviction cannot stand on its merits.

"The findings of guilty are set aside and dismissed, and the appellant's sentence is vacated," the judgment concluded.

Stephen Kenny, Mr Hicks's lawyer in Australia, said the decision confirmed his client's innocence.

"It means David Hicks's conviction has been set aside and he's been declared an innocent man so it confirms what we knew all along," he said.

Dan Mori, who represented Mr Hicks while he was in Guantanamo Bay, said the Australian Government should never have let the case against him proceed.

"The Australian government at the time, prime minister Howard and attorney-general Ruddock, the foreign affairs minister Downer, were warned by a panel of experts from Australia, they were warned that this wasn't a valid offence and finally that it's been validated," he said.

Terry Hicks calls for official apology

Mr Hicks's father Terry said he was relieved that years of legal battles and uncertainty had come to an end.

He said now his son's case was finalised, life could go back to "normal".

"We can get on with what we want to do without the worry of how things are going with court cases," Terry Hicks said.

It's been a long time ... And now, at last the Americans have done the right thing. Terry Hicks

"It's been a long time – we've known the story for many, many years. And now, at last the Americans have done the right thing.

"That's the end of it."

But he still hoped for an official apology from the responsible governments.

"I think at the moment we just need an apology," Mr Hicks said.

"The rulings they placed on David were all retrospective anyway which is illegal.

"The American and the Australian governments in their wisdom decided to leave things as they were until now. At this point in time I myself believe there should be an apology.

"I doubt it will happen because it's just too embarrassing for them."

Hicks revelled in jihad: Howard

A spokesman for former prime minister John Howard said the US decision was a technicality and Mr Hicks was not owed an apology.

"The US verdict is about the legal process in that country," the spokesman said.

"Nothing alters the fact that by his own admission, Hicks trained with Al Qaeda, met Osama bin Laden on several occasions — describing him as a brother. He revelled in jihad.

"He is not owed an apology by any Australian government."

Attorney-General George Brandis said the Government's dealings with Mr Hicks had been in accordance with Australian laws at all times.

But Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said Mr Hicks suffered an injustice and the Government needed to respond.

"There is no doubt on one hand David Hicks was probably foolish to get caught up in that Afghanistan conflict, but clearly there has been an injustice done to him," Mr Shorten said.

"The American courts have finally established that. I think there is an issue here for the Australian Government.

"We can't control what American military courts do, but I do think that the Australian Government needs to examine did they really do all they could to ensure injustice didn't occur?"

But federal Liberal backbencher Andrew Nikolic slammed Mr Shorten's comments.

"I am frankly appalled that Opposition Leader Bill Shorten would talk about some sort of inadvertent, accidental way that Mr Hicks has been caught up in these things, when you consider Mr Hicks's own letters about his activities over there," Mr Nikolic said.

The US government has not said whether it will attempt to challenge the court's decision.

Topics: law-crime-and-justice, unrest-conflict-and-war, terrorism, australia

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