Hicks says his critics will never be happy

David Hicks has won a legal challenge to his terrorism conviction before a US military court. Source: AAP

DAVID Hicks says his critics will never be happy even though a US court has cleared him of supporting terrorism.

WHILE lawyer Stephen Kenny says his client has been declared innocent by an appeal court that vacated his terrorism conviction, there's no dispute that Mr Hicks did undertake military training in Afghanistan.

He won't get any apology from the Australian government or from former prime minister John Howard for that matter - not that Mr Hicks expected one."I don't really care, to be honest," Mr Hicks said."It's all over with."The US Court of Military Commission Review vacated Mr Hicks' 2007 guilty plea to providing material support to terrorism, the first conviction of a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay.A US appeal court last year ruled that material support was not a legally viable war crime.Mr Howard, who was prime minister when Mr Hicks was sent to the US military prison in Cuba in 2002, said the verdict was about the US legal process."Nothing alters the fact that by his own admission, Hicks trained with al-Qaeda, met Osama bin Laden on several occasions - describing him as a brother," Mr Howard said."He revelled in jihad."He is not owed an apology by any Australian government."In a tense exchange with reporters in Sydney on Thursday, Mr Hicks hit out at his critics saying they are "supporters of torture"."The only thing that matters is what the US government has said," he said."Obviously you don't agree with the US government's decision. You'll never be happy."He said he was "having a holiday" when he was picked up in Afghanistan in 2001.Mr Kenny said Mr Hicks was in Afghanistan underdoing military training, but what he did was not a crime."What he was doing there was not at that time illegal. He was not doing anything that was a breach of Australian, international or US law, and that's what this decision today confirms."It's a declaration of David's innocence. It's not a technicality."His father Terry Hicks called on the federal government to apologise to his son, but Prime Minister Tony Abbott was unsympathetic."He was up to no good on his own admission," Mr Abbott said."I'm not in the business of apologising for the actions that Australian governments take to protect our country."Asked if Australia had done enough to help Mr Hicks, Mr Abbott said: "We did what was needed."Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said the government needed to examine if it really did all it could to ensure injustice didn't occur and bring Mr Hicks back to Australia."There is no doubt on one hand David Hicks was probably foolish to get caught up in that Afghanistan conflict, but clearly there has been an injustice done to him," Mr Shorten said.Attorney-General George Brandis said the activities that Mr Hicks has admitted to, including training with al-Qaeda and other terrorist organisations in Afghanistan, would likely now fall within the scope of Australian terrorism laws.The US government does not intend to appeal against the commission's decision, a spokesman said.Mr Hicks says he's not seeking compensation at this point, but does think the Australian government should cover his medical expenses for the continuing treatment of injuries he attributes to his treatment at Guantanamo Bay."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," the 39-year-old Adelaide-born man said.

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