Australian offered plea bargain at Guantanamo

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Australian offered plea bargain at Guantanamo

By Jane Sutton
Reuters
Monday, March 26, 2007; 4:35 AM

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - Australian
David Hicks has grown his hair to chest-length so he can use it to
cover his eyes from the lights that shine in his Guantanamo prison
cell all night, one of his lawyers said.

Hicks believes he will be convicted at his U.S. military war crimes
tribunal at the base in southeast Cuba and he has not ruled out a
guilty plea if it would get him home sooner, Australian attorney
David McLeod told reporters.

-snip-

McLeod and the chief prosecutor for the tribunals, Air Force Col. Moe
Davis, said there had been discussions about a potential plea agreement
under which Hicks would plead guilty in return for a reduced sentence.

HELD MORE THAN FIVE YEARS

Neither would comment on what terms had been discussed and McLeod
said Hicks would continue fight the charges for now.

-snip-


Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032600205.html

---

Hicks is scheduled to be arraigned today at 1 P.M. (eastern).

[izzie]

1. I feel shame when I read about that place.

What a thing for the country that has tried to push human rights to be doing.

[Vidar]

2. We truly are a renegade, lawless nation.

[Eugene]

3. Aussie Terror Suspect Wants More Lawyers

Source: Associated Press

Aussie Terror Suspect Wants More Lawyers

Monday March 26, 2007 8:01 PM

AP Photo NY116

By MICHAEL MELIA

Associated Press Writer

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) - Australian David
Hicks, an alleged al-Qaida-trained fighter, said in a courtroom
Monday that he needs more lawyers to defend himself against a
charge that he provided material support for terrorism.

Hicks, wearing a khaki prison jumpsuit, made the statement as
his arraignment got under way more than five years after he was
taken to Guantanamo. Before the hearing, the Australian shaved
his beard but kept the long hair he uses to block the constant
light in his cell at the isolated prison.

The 31-year-old former kangaroo skinner and outback cowboy
is the first suspect to face prosecution under revised military
tribunals established after the U.S. Supreme Court last year
found the Pentagon's system for trying Guantanamo detainees
was unconstitutional. He said he was satisfied with his defense
team but would ask at a later date for more defense lawyers.

"I'm hoping to have more lawyers and paralegals to get
equality with the prosecution," Hicks told the military court's
presiding officer, Marine Corps Col. Ralph Kohlmann.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6509854,00.html

[struggle4progress]

4. PM won't speculate on Hicks return

March 27, 2007 09:02am

... Mr Howard said today any plea bargain - under which Hicks would plead guilty to supporting terrorism in return for a reduced sentence - was a matter for his lawyers.

He said he was aware of comments by Hicks' Australian lawyer David Mcleod that a possible deal had been canvassed.

But asked if Hicks could return to Australia and serve out at least some of the sentence under a control order, Mr Howard refused to comment.

A person subject to a control order may remain in the community but faces movement restrictions and limits on who may be contacted ...

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,21454107-953,00.html

[struggle4progress]

5. Australian Hicks to plead guilty at Guantanamo (Reuters)

27 Mar 2007 00:36:49 GMT
Source: Reuters

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba, March 26 (Reuters) - Australian prisoner David Hicks agreed on Monday to plead guilty before a U.S. military tribunal to a charge of providing material support to terrorists ....

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N26394905.htm