Former Australian Guantanamo Bay inmate David Hicks today expressed relief after a US court quashed his terrorism conviction and demanded Canberra pay his medical bills as he struggles to overcome the effects of alleged torture.
Hicks was held in the notorious US-run prison from January 2002 until May 2007, when he pleaded guilty to providing material support to Al-Qaeda.
The plea bargain suspended all but nine months of his seven-year sentence and allowed him to return home. He has since recanted his confession, claiming he only admitted guilt under duress.
Hicks claims he was beaten, sexually abused and drugged while in jail.
Three appeals court judges unanimously overturned his conviction, ruling that material support for terrorism was not a war crime and could not be tried by a military court.
"We had been waiting for this decision for years. It is a relief because it is over," Hicks said in Sydney.
"I am sure no one is surprised by today's long-awaited acknowledgement by the government of the United States of America of my innocence. Even the Australian government has admitted that I committed no crime.
"It is just unfortunate that because of politics, I was subjected to five-and-a-half years of physical and psychological torture that I will now live with always."
Hicks was arrested in 2001 in Afghanistan and accused of fighting alongside the Taliban against US-led forces which had invaded the country following the September 11, 2001 attacks in the US.
He has admitted to taking part in paramilitary training in Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as conflicts in Kosovo and Kashmir but maintains he never had extremist intentions.
