Trial of David Hicks 'a farce', says father

ADELAIDE - Australian terror suspect David Hicks will face "farcical" charges at a US military commission hearing in November, his father has said.

The Pentagon yesterday announced November 18 as Hicks' first scheduled motions hearing at Guantanamo Bay - where the Adelaide-born man has been detained since January 2002.

Hicks will be the first detainee to be tried by the widely condemned military commissions.

The 30-year-old denied charges of attempted murder, conspiracy and aiding the enemy at a commission hearing in August last year.

His father, Terry Hicks, said yesterday that his son would not get a fair trial before the commission.

"The attempted murder charge is farcical because the Americans have already said David has never fired a shot at coalition forces or civilians." Hicks said his son had been let down by Australia's failure to bring him home. "The Australian Government ... deemed him to be guilty from the word go without him facing any court system."

The motions hearing, which will tackle legal issues, is expected to take about a week.

Hicks, captured among Taleban forces in Afghanistan in December 2001, is attempting to avoid the trial by gaining British citizenship through his mother.

Britain refused to allow any of its nine inmates held at Guantanamo Bay to be tried because of concerns the military tribunals did not meet international justice standards.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Australia wasn't embarrassed by Hicks' bid for British citizenship.

"If David Hicks became a British citizen ... his destiny would be determined by the British and American Governments.

"But my guess is that, no matter what, he will face the trial that he is scheduled to face."

Scheduling conflicts were named as the reason for the delay in the motions hearing, originally scheduled for mid-October.

Hicks now has valuable extra time with his US District Court challenge of the legality of the commission process.

Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly has deciding whether to allow Hicks to challenge the commission. Such a decision could halt a trial.

A court session will follow the hearing, where lawyers will have the opportunity to challenge the appointment of the three panel members who will act as trial jurors.

The fully fledged trial will then begin.

- AAP

THE CHARGES

Conspiracy

Hicks, from January to August 2001, attended al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and was trained in weapons, bombs, military techniques and surveillance skills.

Armed with an AK-47 and grenades, Hicks guarded a Taleban tank in Kandahar with al Qaeda fighters in October 2001.

Hicks joined Taleban forces in Konduz in November 2001 to engage US-led coalition troops.

Attempted murder (by an unprivileged belligerent)

Between September 11 and December 1, 2001, Hicks "intended to kill American, British, Canadian and other coalition forces" by using small-arms fire, explosives and other means in Afghanistan.

Aiding the enemy

Hicks intentionally aided al Qaeda and Taleban in the context of armed conflict.

- REUTERS