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Govt denies 'fixing' Hicks plea


PM - Monday, 2 April , 2007  18:30:00

Reporter: Peta Donald

MARK COLVIN: The Federal Government denies accusations of a 'political fix' in the plea bargain that's likely to see David Hicks back in Australia within weeks, but unable to speak to the media until after this year's federal election.

Today the Attorney General Philip Ruddock said that while there were discussions with the US before the sentencing of Hicks on Friday, it was a matter for the Americans.

Newspaper commentators in the US don't believe that.

There are widespread accusations of a highly politicised situation involving the Australian Government.

And one legal expert in Australia has told PM that the plea deal, negotiated by David Hicks' legal team directly with the politically appointed head of the Military Commission system, leaves the process wide open to political interference.

From Canberra, Peta Donald reports.

PETA DONALD: The nine-month jail term for David Hicks that will see him brought home but unable to talk to the media is a political gift to the Federal Government. But the Government denies having anything to do with setting the terms of the plea deal.

The Attorney General, Philip Ruddock.

PHILIP RUDDOCK: My department was contacted at a point in time to clarify aspects of Australian law and how it would operate, and that may have given an indication that there were discussions, or at least people were interested in knowing issues in relation to aspects of Australian law, particularly in relation to proceeds of crime. But certainly we weren't involved, I wasn't involved, and I don't believe any of my colleagues were involved in negotiating the plea bargain.

PETA DONALD: When did you find out about the terms of it?

PHILIP RUDDOCK: I found out that there was a plea of guilty on Tuesday of last week, at the time when the Prime Minister learnt of it. And the issues in relation to the terms of it I found out probably in the newspapers today.

PETA DONALD: The minor parties and other observers are accusing the Government of a political fix to avoid electoral damage. In particular they point to the one-year gag on David Hicks talking to the media, as a remarkable coincidence.

Lex Lasry QC has been at Guantanamo Bay as an observer.

LEX LASRY: Well, it's very unusual, and I mean it would be unconstitutional for an American citizen under the American law, and no one has actually explained why it's necessary. And the only comment that I have made is that it's an interesting coincidence that the 12-month media gag takes it past the Australian federal election.

Now, I don't know whether there was any inside arrangement about that, of course, but it's just odd that it occurred in the way that it did.

PETA DONALD: Newspapers in the US share his suspicions. The Washington Post reports that the outcome was a result of a highly politicised situation involving the Australian Government. A columnist in the Atlantic writes 'If you think this was in any way a legitimate court process, you're smoking something even George Michael would pay a lot of money for'.

David Hicks' legal team negotiated his plea deal directly with the Republican-appointed convening authority of the military commission, with the prosecution left out of it. That makes it a political process, according to Don Rothwell, a Professor in international law at the Australian National University.

DON ROTHWELL: Well, I think it totally undercuts the argument that the United States has been making that the military commission is a regularly constituted court. No court as we would know it in Australia or in the United States would suddenly have a political appointee negotiating deals which would be presented as fait accompli.

PETA DONALD: Do you think it makes it open to political interference?

DON ROTHWELL: Well, the whole process is open to political interference in the first place, in terms of who was actually appointed to serve on the commission, but perhaps in this case really highlighting the fact that there is absolute political oversight of the military commission.

PETA DONALD: Labor has been playing a dead bat on the Hicks case. The Opposition's Justice spokesman, Joe Ludwig.

JOE LUDWIG: Labor hasn't seen any evidence to suggest there's been any inappropriate interference by the Howard Government in the military commission process. However, I will say this: there's a normal mechanism of accountability. Labor will be asking the Government to detail their role in the matter in Senate estimates.

PETA DONALD: It could be less than a year before David Hicks gets to tell his side of the story. Professor Don Rothwell doesn't believe the gag order would be enforceable.

DON ROTHWELL: We know that he's expected to be released on New Year's Eve. He'll therefore have another three months under which he'll be subject to this gag order. And yet there's nothing in the Australia-US arrangement which seems to reflect the enforceability of this. And indeed it could be argued that if the Australian Government was agreeing to such an order, it's contrary to the Australian Constitution, where the High Court has said that there is a right of freedom of political communication under the Australian Constitution.

MARK COLVIN: Professor Don Rothwell from the ANU, speaking to Peta Donald.