US does deal on Hicks, Habib: [3 All-round Metro Edition]
Sophie Morris, Rebecca DiGirolamo, John Stapleton. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 26 Nov 2003: 5.
Abstract
DAVID Hicks would serve any sentence imposed on him by the US in Australia, under a deal struck by the Howard Government that gives the terror suspect and fellow Australian detainee Mamdouh [Habib] extra legal safeguards before US military tribunals.
Mr Hicks's lawyer, Stephen Kenny, said the Howard Government should fund Mr Hicks's father and brother to travel to Cuba in the event of a US trial. "The problem continues that David Hicks remains in solitary confinement without being charged, and there is no timetable for when he may or may not be charged," Mr Kenny said.
DAVID Hicks would serve any sentence imposed on him by the US in Australia, under a deal struck by the Howard Government that gives the terror suspect and fellow Australian detainee Mamdouh Habib extra legal safeguards before US military tribunals.
The pair, held without charge in a US military prison in Cuba for the past two years, would also be permitted to see their families and to meet Australian lawyers before a trial, but would have to rely on US military counsel for their defence.
Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said Mr Hicks could face up to 20 years' jail. "In terms of where it is served, it will be served here."
"It is quite possible that (the penalty) will have to be served in Australia," he told the ABC's Lateline last night.
Announcing the deal, Mr Ruddock said the US had promised to speed up the case of Mr Habib, who has not been told whether he will face a military commission. Mr Hicks was one of six foreign detainees listed in July for a military trial, although no date had been set, nor had charges been laid.
"The Government does not want either man to remain in detention without trial any longer than necessary," Mr Ruddock said. "The US has assured the Government that Mr Hicks and Mr Habib will receive no less favourable treatment before a military commission than other non-US detainees."
Under an agreement welcomed by the Law Council of Australia, an independent legal expert approved by Canberra would be able to observe the military commission trials.
The Government will also be able to make submissions to the military review panel that can hear appeals from the trials, although the two Australians themselves will not have this right.
Mr Habib's lawyer, Stephen Hopper, said the guarantees would provide some comfort to his client's family, although a military commission trial "still falls far short of any notion of Western justice".
Mr Hicks's lawyer, Stephen Kenny, said the Howard Government should fund Mr Hicks's father and brother to travel to Cuba in the event of a US trial. "The problem continues that David Hicks remains in solitary confinement without being charged, and there is no timetable for when he may or may not be charged," Mr Kenny said.
Mr Hicks's father, Terry, greeted with scepticism Mr Ruddock's assurance that the US had agreed to work towards transferring his son, if convicted, to Australia to serve any prison sentence.
"He's done nothing wrong under Australian law. So does this mean John Howard has to change Australian laws to fit in with the Americans' promise to return him with a sentence?"
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