The Home Office announced today it will appeal the High Court decision that granted British citizenship to David Hicks, the British Taliban. The government's argument is that Hicks' alleged involvement with al-Qaeda etc. means that his registration as a citizen can be refused and/or his citizenship withdrawn. I'm no lawyer but I think they're stalling. The charges against Hicks cannot be proven except by a fair trial, which the US's military-tribunal process won't provide, as the Foreign Secretary and Attorney General have already conceded (see previous post). The government seems to have conceded, however, that Hick's qualification to be a British citizen, via his mother, is valid. So I reckon the appellate court wi ll rule against the Home Office, but that may not be the end of it.
The Aussie government has already washed its hands of Hicks, and now our government is trying to do the same. David Hicks has been in Guantanamo Bay for four years and one month, and he's alleged that he's suffered beatings and sexual torture. The government should stop stalling and claim him as our own, give guarantees to the Pentagon as to his future conduct, and bring him home.
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