Hicks to get freedom before Christmas

In 31 days David Hicks will be a free man.
For seven years the US military at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, and then Australian
police in his home country have known exactly where he is.
But that is about to end for the convicted terrorism supporter after Australian
Federal Police on Thursday said they would not seek to extend his controversial
control order, which expires on December 21.
Mr Hicks said the decision was a "great relief" for him and his family.
Earlier in the day, he had broken his silence and pleaded with authorities to give
him his life back.
"Until the control order is lifted, I will not be able to get on with my life," he
said in a video released on Thursday and filmed earlier in the week for the lobby
group GetUp!.
Under the control order, Mr Hicks must report to police twice a week, cannot leave
the country and must obey a night-time curfew amongst other rules.
In the video, he looks nothing like the man once photographed with a rocket-launcher
on his shoulder. He appeared uncomfortable as he read from a prepared script.
He promised to one day tell the full story of his detention at Guantanamo Bay to the
Australian public. But those close to the former kangaroo skinner say it may be some
time before his fragile mental state allows it.
Mr Hicks' father Terry said his son was now on the way to becoming "a normal person".
Attorney-General Robert McClelland called for Mr Hicks' privacy to be respected.
Former attorney-general Philip Ruddock - the man many hold responsible for Mr Hicks'
long incarceration at Guantanamo Bay - said he had no problem with the decision not
to renew the control order.
"I'd have no problem with him living in my street," Mr Ruddock told Sky News.
Mr Hicks' decision to speak has reignited debate about the 44 controversial
counter-terrorism laws put on the books since the September 11, 2001 attacks in the
United States. The laws cover everything from pre-emptive arrest to sedition.
A host of academics and lawyers say there is a drastic need for the government to
review the laws and adopt the opposition's plan for an independent reviewer of the
laws.
Leading Melbourne defence lawyer Rob Starry said the laws were making Australia an
international laughing stock.
Mr Starry was joined by millionaire Dick Smith who has previously spoken in Mr
Hicks' defence.
He believes Mr Hicks is an "intelligent" man who will one day tell his story which
is very different to that told by the media.
GetUp! national director Simon Sheikh applauded the decision not to extend the
control order.
"But it does not change the fact that draconian anti-terrorism laws enacted under
the previous government need to be reviewed," Mr Sheikh said.
George Williams, a legal expert from the University of NSW, said the laws need to be
immediately reviewed.
Professor Williams said the debate would be given further impetus when the
government releases the inquiry into the case of one-time suspected terrorist
Mohamed Haneef.
Mr Hicks was captured in Afghanistan in December 2001 and in January the following
year was transferred to the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
In June 2004, he pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy, attempted murder and
aiding the enemy but plans to try him by military tribunal collapsed two years later
when the US Supreme Court ruled the process was unlawful.
The charges against Mr Hicks were struck out but in October 2006 US President George
W Bush signed legislation revamping the miliary commissions.
In February 2007 the Australian faced fresh charges of providing material support
for terrorism and attempted murder.
The next month, the attempted murder charge was dropped following a review, and he
pleaded guilty to providing material support for terrorism.
On March 31 last year, under a plea bargain, Mr Hicks was sentenced to seven years
jail, but ordered to serve only nine months with the rest of his sentence suspended.
He returned to Australia in May last year and served out his remaining time in a
South Australian prison.
Last December, the Federal Magistrates Court ruled that it would place a control
order on Mr Hicks, ahead of his release later that month from jail.