Australian David Hicks Pleads Guilty After U.S. Threatens Military Defense Counsel

On March 26, 2007, Australian David Hicks pleaded guilty to one charge of material support for terrorism, becoming the first Guantánamo prisoner to accept criminal responsibility before a military tribunal for aiding terrorism. Hicks had been detained for 62 months in a tumultuous, often acrimonious case with a number of surprise developments. On March 1, 2007, the Bush administration charged Hicks, who was detained in Afghanistan after September 11, 2001 and held thereafter without trial, making him the first terrorism suspect to face prosecution under the new military tribunal system. The decision to try Hicks generated significant controversy in Australia, a key U.S. ally in the war on terror. Meanwhile, the chief prosecutor for the U.S. military commissions threatened to prosecute Hicks’ military lawyer for making public, in uniform appearances in Australia on behalf of Hicks. The prosecutor also cited a number of Hicks’ lawyer’s public statements ... [more]