Ex-Guantanamo inmate says Assange will never receive a fair trial in US

Sydney, Dec 15(ANI): Former Guantanamo Bay inmate, David Hicks, has come out in support of Wikileaks' founder Julian Assange, saying that he feared for Assange's safety should he end up in American hands.

When asked what might happen to Assange if he was extradited to the United States, Hicks said: "He will never receive a fair trial."

"We have already established that it's a political decision rather than a legal one. It's important that our governments are held to account for any war crimes they may be involved in and that is why the work of WikiLeaks is so important," he added.

Hicks also believes that future WikiLeaks releases could contain information about his incarceration.

"I will watch with interest in more leaks released because I have heard that they might contain information about my treatment in Guantanamo and the political interference in my case," Fox News quoted Hicks, as saying.

"I just hope the Australian government doesn't abandon him like they did to me," he added.

A US military commission in March this year had sentenced Hicks to seven years in jail, with all but nine months suspended after he pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorism.

The father of two was detained in December 2001 by US forces in Afghanistan, where he had been fighting with the Taliban, and spent more than five years without trial in Guantanamo Bay.

According to reports, Hicks had admitted taking part in four Al-Qaeda training camps between January 2001 and August 2001 - a month before the terrorist attacks in the US.

He had also met Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden 20 times, and referred to him as a lovely brother, and a man who had given up everything for the cause of Islam.

Under a plea bargain, Hicks was returned to Australia to serve the remainder of his sentence at Yatala prison in Adelaide. (ANI)