CUBA: Australian David Hicks becomes first person to plead guilty at Guantanamo Bay

Although he is not well known in the United States, Hicks is a household name and political symbol in his native Australia. He was captured in late 2001 in where he was accused of helping al Qaeda fight American troops and their allies during the U.S.-led invasion after the September 11 attacks. The former farmhand and high-school drop-out could make more than 1 million Australian dollars -- equivalent to about 860,000 U.S. dollars -- if he sells the story of five-year incarceration at Guantanamo, Australian celebrity publicist Max Markson told the Sydney Morning Herald's Web site. Hicks is the only detainee charged so far in the new military tribunal system the U.S. Congress created after the Supreme Court struck down an earlier version that authorized to try foreign captives on terrorism charges. Although Hicks had faced a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted, the chief prosecutor, Air Force Col. Moe Davis, said he never planned to ask for more than 20 years. "I'm not going to stand here and tell you that David Hicks is on par with Osama Bin Laden, that would be ridiculous. But certainly his conduct violates the rules of armed conflict, and he's held responsible for that. But I certainly wouldn't put him in - I mean I would put him on par with the twenty year sentence for John Walker Lind, that type of thing. His conduct is wrongful, but it is certainly not the top of the pyramid," Davis said. That request will now be trimmed because of his guilty plea and will take into account the five years Hicks has spent at Guantanamo, according to Davis. Under a long-standing diplomatic agreement, Hicks will serve his sentence in Australia. The military says as many as 80 of the 385 men held at Guantanamo will likely face prosecution, but the process is moving so slowly that no one else is likely to see his case resolved soon, in large part because of a shortage of courtroom space at Guantanamo.

ITN Source | March 30, 2007

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