Timing of Hicks charges 'an act of bastardry'

Timing of Hicks charges 'an act of bastardry'
Monday, February 5, 2007.

The US military has prepared fresh charges of providing material support for terrorism and attempted murder against David Hicks. (file photo)

The Australian lawyer for David Hicks has accused the US military of an act of bastardry for waiting until the departure of his legal team to announce new charges.

David McLeod has just returned from visiting his client at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, saying Hicks is a broken man.

Hicks is yet to be formally charged, but is facing charges of attempted murder and providing material support for terrorism.

Mr McLeod says he was with Hicks for four days but the US military waited until he left to announce the charges.

"The fact that the day after we had spent four days with him, charges are presented to him in our absence, [that's] an act of bastardry on any scale," he said.

Mr McLeod also says he was interrogated during his latest trip to Guantanamo Bay.

He claims he was subjected to an aggressive interrogation by an American military officer for speaking out in the media.

"This is what happens when a lawless place like Guantanamo Bay is subject to scrutiny," he said.

"They hate it, they don't want it, they don't invite, they don't encourage it.

"And when people speak out about it like myself - I get shirt-fronted."

Charges questioned

Mr McLeod says retrospective charges to be laid against his client are more evidence of an unfair system.

He says the charge of providing material support for terrorism was enacted four months ago, while Hicks has been held for more than five years.

"It doesn't apply to Americans, under the American constitution, charges cannot be preferred retrospectively to Americans," he said.

"So here we have a process again designed specifically for non-Americans."

But the US military officer prosecuting Hicks has rejected criticism of the charges.

Colonel Moe Davis says Congress recognised the offence more than a decade ago.

"It's not a new offence, the difference here is the forum in which that offence can be prosecuted, so this is not a new crime, so I would say that that's just a load of rubbish," he said.

The case is expected to be raised in tomorrow's Coalition party room meeting in Canberra.