ABX, from the age
David Hicks is one of about 75 detainees of the United States' "war" on terror likely to face charges and a US military commission.
Under President George W. Bush's original military commissions, Hicks was charged with conspiracy, attempted murder and aiding the enemy.
The prosecution alleged Hicks had trained at al-Qaeda camps, translated training manuals into English for the terror group, knew Osama bin Laden, conducted surveillance on US and other embassies, and was armed to battle coalition forces in Afghanistan in late 2001.
Hicks’ defence lawyer Major Michael Mori described the charges as weak, pointing out that Hicks’ Arabic skills were minimal, and that several of the embassies were no longer used at the time of Hicks’ alleged surveillance work.
The charges against Hicks were dropped when the US Supreme Court ruled the first military commission model illegal in mid-2006.
Major Mori said in response to Colonel Davis’ allegations that no proof of Hicks’ alleged al-Qaeda membership or of his willingness to fight coalition troops had ever been revealed.
He says Hicks did not break any US or Australian laws.
In February 2007, Hicks' prosecutors drafted fresh charges against him under the Military Commissions Act of 2006. The fresh charges were attempted murder and providing material support for terrorism.
Colonel Davis said there was no evidence that Hicks had injured or killed anybody in Afghanistan.
Major Mori questioned the retention of the attempted murder charge and said the charge of providing material support for terrorism was based on retrospective legislation.
The draft charges against Hicks
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/d200...%20Charges.pdf
The original charges against Hicks
http://www.theage.com.au/multimedia/...hargesheet.pdf