Calls for justice for Hicks after American court ruling
October 21, 2012
Natalie O'Brien
... It is almost 11 years since Hicks was grabbed by the Northern Alliance from a taxi stand in Afghanistan as he tried to flee the country and was sold to US troops for $US1000. He spent five years in Guantanamo Bay before, he says, he was pressured into agreeing to a plea bargain in which he was convicted of providing material support for terrorism.
The US Court of Appeals ruled that the charge, which came into force in 2006, could not be applied retrospectively ...
Hicks was held in Guantanamo Bay for 5½years before he agreed to the plea bargain and was sent back to Australia. He served seven months in Adelaide's Yatala prison before being released days before Christmas in 2007.
Hicks wrote a book about his experience, Guantanamo: My Journey but the federal government moved to stop him receiving any profits from the book saying it would be the proceeds of crime. However, in July, the government suddenly dropped the case deciding it would not stand up in court ...
http://www.smh.com.au/national/calls-for-justice-for-hicks-after-american-court-ruling-20121020-27y0t.html