Guantanamo prisoner David Hicks pleads guilty

March 26, 2007

Guantanamo, Cuba - Guantanamo prisoner David Hicks pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorism today before a US military tribunal after three hours of tense proceedings in which two defense lawyers were disqualified.

Hicks entered a guilty plea, after an initial hearing which was immediately thrown into disarray when the judge effectively disqualified two of his three lawyers.

Hicks is the first suspect to face prosecution under revised military tribunals established after the U.S. Supreme Court last year found the Pentagon's system for trying Guantanamo detainees was unconstitutional.

Hicks appeared in court wearing an olive green outfit, and thongs on his feet.

The judge warned his defense counsel that in the future he should not appear in prison-type clothes, in order to make sure that his presumption of innocence was maintained.

Hicks's hair was long, reaching down to his shoulder blades, but he had shaved off a long beard for his first court appearance in two and half years.

He looked in reasonable health, although, as his father Terry said, he looked puffy.

He was unrecognizable from old photographs of him, although the extra weight has made him resemble his father.

He spoke in a grunting, loud voice, protesting about the loss of his lawyers. The judge offered to let them remain on his defense table for the day, but Hicks said he wanted them as his lawyers, not advisers.

He appeared in reasonable spirits at the beginning of the proceedings, but as his defense team left the room, leaving only Marine lawyer Major Michael Mori, he appeared increasingly worried.

For most of the proceedings he squinted, concentrating on the legal argument.

He was led into court being held on each arm by two military guards, who placed his hands on the defense table before a third guard pushed the seat in as he sat down. He was not allowed to stand up when the judge entered the room.

The presiding judge, Colonel Ralph Kohlmann said that Major Michael Mori's assistant could not, at least for the moment, represent him because she was not a serving member of the military.

The judge also decided that Hicks's civilian lawyer, New York criminal attorney Joshua Dratel could not represent Hicks because he had not signed a form demanded by the court saying he would conform to the regulations governing proceedings.

Dratel protested strongly, saying he could not sign the form because the regulations governing the conduct of attorneys had not yet been formulated by the Secretary of Defense. He was not going to sign a blank check for his ethical obligations.

The judge also ruled in his own favor when Major Mori, who was left alone at the defense table, attempted to argue that judge Kohlmann was not impartial because he had not only effectively ruled against Hicks's defense team, but had also tried to schedule the hearing last week, when Hicks's civil lawyer was unavailable.

© AlaskaReport News