Hicks major crime was to become a Muslim. It only got worst from that point on.

Those who wish him a fair trial better pray that he doesn't get a court where capital punishment is still allowed.

Why should Australia (and tax payers) stand by its citizens when they make stupid irreconcilable mistakes here and abroad?

Public opinion and protests did not help Australian drug traffickers before – why should it be any different now with a convert Muslim terrorist mercenary mongrel caught in a war zone?

Fair is fair people – you play with fire you get burnt

Coach my understanding is that Freedom of Religion is one of the tenets of the Australian Constitution. ( Or is the Australian Constitution a fabled fiction?)

Whether HIcks is Muslim or Catholic should be immaterial in the eyes of the law.

The longer the Prime Minister and Attorney General, both trained lawyers, permit an Australian to remain in Guantanamo Bay in inhumane conditions the more damage they do to the credibility of their offices of Prime Minister and Attorney General.

I gather Phillip Ruddock's Amnesty International membership is a tawdry joke.

ahh, I guess coach is what's referred to as patriotically incorrect, and ah, just failed the citizenship test for knowledge of Australian laws and values

those who proclaim their nationalism the loudest are the ones who understand their country the least and do it the most damage.

I think many posters here who champion justice forget what it is to be outlawed. They talk of Australian values and Australian system of courts justice and law but, fail to pay due attention that Hicks wasn't caught out burgling the local pub come a Saturday night of high-jinks. He was caught out with those who's explicit will is to bring down our culture and society. What mechanism has Australia in place to bring Hicks to trial for crimes committed beyond it's borders? What laws do Australia have in place to prosecute global terrorism or terrorist? Would the knee-jerk emotionalist prefer that the captured al-Qeada types did their community service in their neighbourhoods with in Australia? Or does GITMO seem a little more reasonable considering public safety.

It all depends what constitutes a Religion.

The rights to worship God or gods is fine by me. But that stops when a politicaly motivated minority disguised as a religion is threatning to take over ALL your freedoms and human rights... is when the red flag goes up.

Before you criticize me, please have a look at the enemy standing at your doorstep and ready to invade your home. No one is safe.

Political Islam is not only out there in the Middle East or Asia, but right here in our own turf. And what you do gooders Australian patriots do? Defend a miserable Muslim terrorist that was fighting to reverse the course of humanity and make it living hell for your children and grandchildren.

Our government is stuck between a rock (the US war machine) and a hard place (Australian national security).

Sometimes to be a humanitarian is to take the hard decisions - or in the case of the Howard clan no decision at all.

Cheers.

My understanding of David Hicks is that he was kidnapped from a bus stop in Pakistan and sold by bounty hunters to the Americans. At various stages Hicks had

fought in Bosnia on the same side as the Americans
fought in Afganistan on the same side as the Americans

Its very hard to keep your allegiances straight when the USA changes alliances overnight.

And if its good enough for Australians to fight in the Israeli Defence Forces or the Ustasha then why is fighting with our buddy the Taliban not right?

An american soldier conviced of killing Iraqi prisoners has been sentenced to 8 years goal. David Hicks who has not been charged with anything has been held in solitary confinement and tortured for over 5 years.

Torture hasn't been part of the Ausralian Penal system since transportation stopped in 1853. Hmmm very shaky logic since the yanks modern version of transportation is "rendition" and the hapless prisoners fly in chains rather than sail the seas in leaky boats.