SYDNEY, 9 July 2003 — Australian-born Taleban fighter David Hicks, who is now in US military detention, has admitted training with the Al-Qaeda terrorist network, Prime Minister John Howard revealed for the first time yesterday.
Howard’s disclosure came as US lawyers protested that Hicks would not receive a fair trial by a US military tribunal because he is being denied proper access to legal representation.
The 27-year-old former Adelaide poultry process worker has been held by the US military at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since he was captured fighting with the Taleban by US forces in Afghanistan in November 2001.
Hicks’ lawyers have conceded he was a Taleban fighter but denied persistent allegations he had links to Al-Qaeda.
But Howard said the government was satisfied that Hicks would receive a fair trial and that he was linked to Al-Qaeda.
“What is not an allegation, because the man in question has admitted it, is that he trained with al-Qaeda,” Howard told ABC radio when asked about Hicks.
Howard said the government had lengthy discussions with US officials about the case and was satisfied that Hicks would receive a fair hearing, that the presumption of innocence would prevail and that there would be access to lawyers.
One of Hicks’ Adelaide-based lawyers, Frank Camatta, said he was shocked by the prime minister’s comments. “It’s a total surprise to us,” he said.
“We have no basis to understand that to be the case. Maybe the prime minister has had access to briefings from the security services.
“We would have been very pleased to have been told that, rather than hear it through the media. Why he would say that without at least letting the family know is disappointing.”
Hicks was named by the US administration last week as one of an initial group of six detainees eligible to be tried by a US military tribunal, although no date has been set for a hearing and no charge has yet been laid. His family has appointed a civilian legal team, although his lawyers say he is being denied the usual confidentiality between lawyer and client, which is a basic tenet of legal representation, and without which they say it would be virtually impossible for him to receive a fair trial.
Hicks’ US-based lawyer Joseph Margulies said there was scant chance of a fair trial.
“They would never countenance these kinds of proceedings in an Australian court,” Margulies told ABC radio.
“One of the real problems with the tribunal is that it is not transparent.”
US National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) president Lawrence Goldman said the military court was likely to be biased because the judges, who would probably be senior officers, would find it difficult to acquit someone whom President Bush has recommended for trial.
