Gilbert + Tobin has assisted former Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks avoid a proceeds of crime order bought against him by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP).
The case to recover the proceeds of Hicks’ book, Guantanamo, My Journey, was scheduled to go before the Supreme Court of New South Wales in one week’s time; but the CDPP today announced it has withdrawn its action.
“We believe the evidence we submitted demonstrated David’s plea agreement was made under duress – an admission extracted under extremely harsh conditions at Guantanamo,” said Gilbert + Tobin partner Steven Glass.
Proceedings were commenced against Hicks in July last year, with the CDPP arguing that under the Proceeds of Crimes Act 2002 Hicks should be required to forfeit the profits of his book. The CDPP said it would rely on Hicks’s agreement in 2007, after nearly six years in Guantanamo Bay, to plead guilty to charges that he had provided “material support for terrorism”. It argued that the guilty plea meant that he was prohibited from earning profits from his book.
However, the Gilbert + Tobin defence team argued that the CDPP should not be able to rely on the plea agreement, because the conditions at Guantanamo amounted to duress. Additionally, the legal team was to argue that the offence of providing “material support for terrorism”, which was made law in the United States in 2006, was not an offence either in the U.S. or Australia in 2001 when the alleged conduct occurred.
Adelaide-born Hicks, was captured by the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan and handed to U.S. forces in 2001.
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