David Hicks, the Australian former Guantanamo Bay detainee, has welcomed a US court decision to overturn his terrorism conviction, but says he is suffering lasting health problems from his detention. The US Court of Military Commission review set aside his guilty verdict for providing material support to terrorism, and the US government has said it will not appeal.
Hicks, who spent six years in Guantanamo Bay after being captured in Afghanistan in 2001, told Guardian Australia: 'Obviously it feels good that I’m an innocent man.' He added that 'the American and Australian authorities were aware of my innocence from day one' and that he endured 'years of torture that ruined my life for no reason, for political purposes.'
The 39-year-old said he is not seeking compensation but wants the Australian government to cover his medical expenses, citing damage to his left knee, right elbow, back and teeth. 'It is due to the torture – being kept in freezing conditions, small rooms for years,' he said. Hicks was repatriated to Australia in 2007 after a plea deal and was subject to a control order under counter-terrorism laws.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott refused to apologise, saying Hicks 'was up to no good on his own admission' in Afghanistan. Opposition leader Bill Shorten said the government should examine whether it had done enough to prevent injustice. A spokesman for former prime minister John Howard noted that Hicks had admitted training with al-Qaida and meeting Osama bin Laden.
Hicks said he felt 'too defeated to have anger' and that he had doubted his conviction would ever be overturned. The US Defense Department said the decision stemmed from a ruling that material support for terrorism was not a viable charge for pre-2006 conduct.
