Govt working for Hicks guilty verdict says former Aussie PM

"Former prime minister Malcolm Fraser claims the United States and Australian governments are working to ensure Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks is found guilty.

"Mr Fraser has addressed eminent Australians, academics and teachers at a human rights education conference at the University of Melbourne.

"He says the Howard Government has done nothing to stop the delays and torturous conditions at Guantanamo Bay.

"'After five years of quite inhumane and degrading treatment, a verdict of innocence would be extraordinarily embarrassing to both governments, perhaps enough to defeat a government as more and more Australians really come to understand the nature of government's betrayal of the rights of an Australian citizen,' he said.

"'On this analysis, the United States cannot and clearly will not allow a fair trial.'

"'As the bottom line, if the United States had wanted a fair trial, it would have used the normal court system or military court martials -- we could all then have confidence in either course.

"'The United States has in fact spent enormous energy to try and guarantee the kind of verdict it clearly wants.'"
ABC News

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