What freedom means for Hicks

David Hicks was reunited with his father (Terry) yesterday, then spoke publicly for the first time, offering just a handful of words: "I'm doing fine." …he appeared intense, nervous and distrustful around someone he did not know.SMH

Terry Hicks said the US military had embedded a deep fear in Hicks - an irrational one given the unlikelihood of the US being able to enforce it - and he believed that if he breached the gag order he could be returned to Guantanamo Bay.

"David is asking for time," Terry said during the meeting. "He is not confident enough to talk fully to the media as yet - this [meeting] was just a lucky coincidence."

The Murdoch press is going to continue its attacks on Hicks. One headline in the Australian screamed - Hicks is guilty until proven innocent. The actual story:

DAVID Hicks's former Australian lawyer Stephen Kenny has told the media that Hicks has not committed any crime. Hicks would not have been convicted of a terrorism-related charge by any fair court, he has said. Hicks had simply accepted an "offer he couldn't refuse" to get out of a US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba: "It was quite clear on all the evidence we had, there was no evidence that he had actually committed any crime."

A Sydney Jewish leader, lawyer and failed Labor candidate, George Newhouse, has been warned he was on very shaky ground claiming David Hicks once threatened to "rob and kill" Australian Jews.

Even US officials agree there is no evidence Hicks joined the Taliban in any conventional conflict with coalition forces. Newhouse was relying on a Time magazine report earlier this year of allegations by the British Guantanamo detainee Feroz Abbasi that Hicks had spoken of slaughtering Jews. Newhouse conceded he was unaware Abbasi had repudiated those claims in a signed statement after his release from Guantanamo in 2004.

South Australian Premier Mike Rann greeted Hicks's release by smearing him with the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Rann also told Murdoch’s The Advertiser: "As Australian soldiers continue to fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan, it's worth remembering that Hicks chose to actively support the forces that have been responsible for the deaths of four Australian soldiers."

FORMER foreign minister Alexander Downer said he holds no regrets over the Howard government's handling of the case involving confessed terrorism supporter David Hicks. "Well, I think what he did was evil. It was an act of real treachery to take up arms against the coalition in Afghanistan, to train with al-Qaeda." The Australian

The Australian was also running a blog stirring community reaction to Hicks ‘making millions’ in book rights. It is a fabrication, as there has been no suggestion of a book, but pure Murdoch all the same.

It is not surprising that Hicks isn’t feeling all that confident. These miserable bastards just can’t resist kicking the guy when he is on the floor. I get so pissed off with the bully tactics which were part of the whole gung ho war on terror and that are being continued in an effort to keep the disgusting concept alive.

Some media support

A Fairfax journalist, Penelope Debelle, who met David Hicks after his release from jail says she believes he would find it hard to communicate with those who expect him to apologise for his actions.

Hicks had been expected to make an apology when he was released from Adelaide's Yatala prison on Saturday. Debelle says her brief meeting with Mr Hicks and his father Terry yesterday confirmed that Mr Hicks' re-adjustment to society would be a slow process. "Having met him, [it] is very obvious he's not a confident enough person, he's not socialised in an easy way," she said.

Thank you world

I have been reminded that many Americans and others around the world who lobbied against Gitmo and for Hicks release. Thanks enigma for reminding me and for the image of you in an orange boiler suit, potential prize for your efforts. More power to you for risking that fashion statement.

Back sometime in 06 I posted A salute to US Marine, Major Michael Mori. Mori didn’t end up in an orange boiler suit either, but according to wikipedia: “Major Mori has been passed over for promotion twice since taking on the Hicks case and will be assessed again in October 2007.” I haven’t seen any result from that assessment

But he remains a true hero to many Australians. Reluctant as I am to move away from the hand press:

So thank you world, there is so much bravery and ‘putting yourself out there’ we never really hear about. We don’t know what Hicks might or might not have done, he never saw justice or the opportunity for an open trial. At question here is not his guilt or innocence, but a system which is so willing to trample our legal rights.