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War criminal and former British PM Tony Blair had only just completed a lucrative commercial speaking tour of Australia when Australia’s federal Director of Public Prosecutions began court proceeding to prosecute former Guantanamo detainee David Hicks under “proceeds of crime” laws.

Government prosecutors want to seize the profits from his book , of which about 30,000 copies have been sold.

Hicks has committed no crime recognised under Australian law. Even former Australian prime minister John Howard has .

The truth about Guantanamo must not be silenced.

The former chief US prosecutor of military commissions at Guantanamo Bay, Colonel Morris Davis, recently told Jason Leopold of that he thought Hicks was prosecuted as a “favour” to Australian government through dubious legal devices and procedures.

Leopold explained the deal Hicks signed in utter desperation to finally get out of Guantanamo: “The deal, referred to as , called for Hicks to sign an agreement accepting the single charge of providing material support, which was not deemed a war crime prior to the passage of the Military Commissions Act of 2006.

“In an Alford plea, the accused does not admit to the act for which he is charged, but admits that the prosecution could likely prove it. The government dropped the attempted murder charge against Hicks.

“Under the terms of the deal, Hicks would serve nine months in prison in Australia and would be prohibited from speaking to the media for a year.”



In other words, Hicks has not been found guilty nor even admitted he was guilty of these dubious charges.

Warmongers such as George W Bush, Blair and Howard have not yet been convicted of war crimes, but there is overwhelming evidence they are responsible for killing hundreds of thousands of innocent Afghan and Iraqi civilians.

The victims of their war crimes continue to mount despite their retirement from office and they freely swan around the world promoting their memoirs and joining high-paying lecture circuits.

They are the ones profiting from crimes, without the slightest hindrance.

But David Hicks, traumatised from five years in the hell of the infamous US concentration camp in Guantanamo (which is US-occupied Cuban territory), and his family are being denied their right to live their lives in peace.

A gross, moral double standard is at work here. Anyone with a conscience should rise to defend Hicks again and make sure the truth about the Guantanamo hellhole — which still operates despite US President Barack Obama’s to close it — is not silenced.

[The Socialist Alliance released this statement on August 4. Visit http://www.socialist-alliance.org ]