TERROR suspect David Hicks will be "at the head of the list" of enemy combatants to be tried by the US military at Guantanamo Bay and the Australian will not return home until he is sentenced.
In the face of mounting community disquiet over Hicks's treatmenst five years after his arrest in Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer indicated the Federal Government would wait until the Adelaide man's military trial was completed at the Cuban prison before seeking his return to Australia.
Speaking after a meeting with US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, Mr Downer said the Bush administration had repeated undertakings that Hicks would not face the death penalty, that he would be represented by an accredited Australian lawyer and that he would serve his sentence in Australia.
Hicks's lawyers are lobbying for him to be returned home, saying after a recent visit their client had the look of a "condemned man".
See the full story as reported by Richard Sproull http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21215720-2,00.html
No comments:
Post a Comment