Hicks hopes for British help

[cal04]

The father of Australian Guantanamo Bay detainee hopes his son will secure a British passport, as the Government of the United Kingdom has a better record of helping its detainees than the Australia. Britain has been highly critical of the trials of detainees at Guantanamo Bay by a US military commission and has succeeded in having all nine of its nations repatriated.

Hicks's father Terry says his son made a passing comment about his mother's British citizenship when talking to his lawyer Major Michael Mori about the Ashes cricket series during a recent meeting. "If they do accept his application then it could end up being quite an interesting event I suppose," Terry Hicks said. "What could happen, whether the British will then observe what they've done for their other nine citizens, whether they'll do the same for David."

The fact that Hicks's mother is British means he can apply to adopt her citizenship. Terry Hicks said his son remarked that he wished he was British like his mother so that he could have supported the winning Ashes team, but he did not immediately realise the gravity of his statement. "He said his mother still retains a UK passport and of course Major Mori nearly fell over," he said."He didn't realise that David probably could have the means of being released through the Brits."

Maj Mori told Britain’s Observer newspaper: "He told me he'd never felt very partisan about the Ashes and wouldn't much mind if England took the series - because his mum had never claimed Aussie nationality and still carried a UK passport. My jaw hit the floor. I asked him, 'Do you realise that may mean you're legally a Brit?' We both knew that the implications of that could be stunning". British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said in February 2004 that the US military commissions, "as presently constituted, would not provide the type of process which we would afford British nationals... The detainees should either be tried in accordance with international standards or they should be returned to the UK." Last week, the Pentagon lifted a stay on the trial of Hicks.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200509/s1468067.htm

[Matilda]

1. Seems it could take up to twelve months for approval to come through,

if indeed it does. Would they turn him down as being "undesirable"?
I don't think twelve months is the norm, not in my experience, but
perhaps things have been tightened up recently.

This whole show trial is disgusting - an online survey done by the
Sydney Morning Herald last week had people voting at around 85% that
they thought Hicks wouldn't get a fair trial; even a 10% error
margin still gives a significant majority. Unfortunately, Labor
isn't running with this - I guess they don't see huge community
sympathy for an Anglo-Australian who joined the Taliban, and the
point that no matter what he may have done (and we still don't
really know what they have on him), he's entitled to a fair trial
and the backing of his government seems to escape them.