Cleared David Hicks “too defeated” to be angry
David Hicks doesn’t think anyone should be surprised by the decision of a US court to clear him.
“Even the Australian government has admitted that I committed no crime,” Hicks told reporters in Sydney.
“It is just unfortunate that because of politics, I was subjected to five and a half years of physical and psychological torture that I will now live with always.”
“I then had to sit in the Adelaide jail until the 2007 elections were concluded. I was then subjected to a gag order, then a control order and I even had my bank accounts frozen.”
Hicks said he was relieved that it was all over, exhausted because it took a long time but not angry.
“No, there is not anger. I think I am too defeated to have anger. I am worn out.”
Hicks said he wasn’t seeking compensation at this point.
But he does think someone – the government – should be responsible for his medical expenses because his time in Guantanamo Bay had generated ongoing health problems.
“It is due to the torture – being kept in freezing conditions, small rooms for years,” he said.
“Not being able to move or exercise. The body deteriorates over five and a half years, even without the added torture.”
Hicks said he needs operations on his left knee, right elbow and back.
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“My teeth keep getting pulled because I couldn’t brush them for five and a half years. It is becoming and expensive exercise to fix myself from torture,” he said.
Hicks thanked those instrumental in securing his release from Guantanamo and the US military court ruling.
“I would like to give special mention to (his lawyer) Stephen Kenny,” he said.
“He was there at the beginning and now he is here today at the end.”
Hicks thanked the Australian public and acknowledged Gilbert and Tobin Lawyers’ assistance in defeating the federal government’s attempt to seize the sales proceeds from his book Guantanamo: My Journey.
Hicks said he was looking forward to getting on with his life now his name has been cleared.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott said earlier on Thursday the government wouldn’t apologise for the torture Hicks endured, despite a call from Hicks’ father Terry.
Hicks said he doesn’t care.
“It’s all over with,” he said.
In a tense exchange with reporters at the end of the press conference, Hicks hit out at his critics.
“I think they’re supporters of torture,” Hicks said.
“The only thing that matters is what the US government has said.”
Asked what he was doing when he was picked up in Afghanistan, Hicks replied: “Having a holiday”.
Hicks remained silent when repeatedly asked what he was currently doing for work.
He said he wanted “to live a normal life and be a normal person”.
Overnight, Hicks’ terrorism conviction was overturned by the military court at Guantanamo Bay, bringing an end to an almost decade-long legal saga.
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The 39-year-old from Adelaide was held for more than five years in Guantanamo Bay.
Timeline of the David Hicks saga
– December 2001: Hicks captured fleeing Taliban forces in Afghanistan.
– January 2002: Hicks transferred to US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
– July 2003: Hicks designated as one of six Guantanamo Bay detainees to be tried by US military commission.
– June 2004: Hicks charged by the US with conspiracy, attempted murder by an unprivileged belligerent, and aiding the enemy.
– August 2004: Hicks signs an affidavit saying he has been “beaten before, after, and during interrogations”. He says he has been deprived of sleep as a matter of policy, forcibly injected with unknown sedatives and beaten while under their influence. Hicks pleads not guilty to all charges before a US military commission.
– June 2006: US Supreme Court rules US military commissions are unlawful and breach Geneva Conventions, meaning charges against Hicks are struck out.
– February 2007: US swears charges against Hicks of providing material support for terrorism.
– March 2007: Hicks pleads guilty to providing material support for terrorism at a US military commission hearing at Guantanamo Bay. Under a plea bargain, Hicks sentenced to seven years jail; to serve only nine months after the rest of the sentence was suspended. The deal stipulates he will serve his time in Australia.
– May 2007: Hicks returns to Australia and taken to Adelaide’s Yatala prison.
– December 2007: Federal Magistrates Court rules it will place a control order on Hicks. Conditions include midnight to 6am curfew; reporting to police three times a week; cannot leave Australia; and must have any mobile phone used with an AFP approved SIM card. Hicks released from Yatala prison.
– August 2009: Hicks marries a human rights activist, Aloysia Brooks.
– October 2010: Hicks’ autobiography, Guantanamo: My Journey is published by Random House.
– July 2011: Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions launches legal action to seize proceeds from Hicks’ memoirs.
– August 2011: Hicks shortlisted for Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards. Doesn’t win.
– July 2012: Prosecutors announce case against Hicks has been dropped. Hicks can keep book proceeds after all.
– November 2013: Hicks’ lawyers appeal his terrorism conviction.
– December 2014 Hicks heckles Attorney-General George Brandis at a human rights award ceremony.
– February 2014 Conviction overturned by a US military court at Guantanamo Bay.
