Stench of Hicks prosecution lingers as court exposes its flimsy basis
October 19, 2012
Richard Ackland
Sydney Morning Herald columnist
It would have taken the skills of a first-year law clerk in the Attorney-General's department to advise that the case against David Hicks was a big no-no. It didn't need an appeals court in the United States this week to tell us this was a dodgy political prosecution.
Being fitted-up for a war crime for things he allegedly did before the crime was put on the books required some heavy-handed manipulation.
Hicks was charged in 2007 with ''material support for terrorism''. This related to ''engaging in combat against US forces'' in Afghanistan in 2001.
The Military Commission and the offence itself came into existence in 2006, by an Act of Congress after the 2001 version of the Military Commissions was struck down by the US Supreme Court as unconstitutional ...
http://www.watoday.com.au/opinion/politics/stench-of-hicks-prosecution-lingers-as-court-exposes-its-flimsy-basis-20121018-27tsb.html
