That anyone would suggest, as Mr Richter does, that Hicks may be able to profit from the sale of his story is a sad day for the legal profession. The suggestion seems to have a touch of the ambulance chaser about it and I think that shows that there is still some rather venal people who are keen to share in what they see as a potential honey pot from any book “written ” by Hicks
On the advice that I have the legislation clearly does apply,” Mr Ruddock said.”It applies to a foreign indictable offence and the military commission that was legislated for by the Congress, in our view, is sufficient a body to try a person for an indictable offence and he has been tried and he has been found guilty.”
If the Australian Federal Police were to apply for an order freezing the proceeds from any book by Hicks, Mr Richter said flaws in the legislation meant the freezing order would eventually be overturned.
The only other way of stripping Hicks of any profits would be to rely on the provision in his plea agreement with the US that assigns profits to the Australian Government. But that agreement is unenforceable in Australia because of the duress Hicks would have been under, according to Mr Richter and the MUP legal advice.
Professor McCallum said there was “probably no legal impediment” that could stop Hicks making money from a book: “But if I were advising him, I would be telling him to give a large amount to charity.”
Celebrity agent Max Markson, who predicted Hicks’s story would be worth more than $1 million, told The Australian this month he would not represent Hicks “for any amount”.
A US embassy spokeswoman said last night the US expected Hicks to honour his agreement.(source)
I take heart though from the responses from our Attorney General that the laws that would prevent Hicks profiting from his admitted crimes are robust enough.
As if the Australian public won’t be totally sick of this scumbags story by the time any book was released. I read the extract from Leigh Sales’s book about Hicks in the weekend OZ and it at least does not seem to take to task the claims of abuse made earlier by Hick’s supporters and It makes me wonder just what there is new to be said by Hicks himself that has not already been told so many times by his cheer Squad.
I take heart though that many of my fellow Australians no longer flock to “free David Hicks” rallies I firmly believe that it is game over on the matter of this silly little man who wanted to play soldiers with the big boys but found that they were not playing a game at all ,and that is the gist of the Hicks matter.
Frankly I think that any publisher that would contemplate producing a book by Hicks should be forever boycotted by all sensible Australians. And anyone who would buy such a book should be prosecuted for providing funds to an admitted terrorist.
Filed under: Australian Politics, David Hicks, Islam, The War On Terror, World Events, international politics, the Law | Tagged: in the news
Actually a book by Hicks would be interesting and useful. In regards to the title of the post maybe he’ll need a ghost writer or it could be one of those by So and So as told to Such and Such deals. I really don’t see how he could make money out of it. Schapelle Corby’s royalties have been frozen by the feds and selling dope isn’t anywhere near terrorism as criminal activities go.
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Maybe what he should do is write the book and donate the proceeds to the victims of the Bali bombings and their families.
Hi Adrien
Sadly I don’t have any faith that such altruism would be the motive for writing such a book.
I do note however that Ruddock has said that he will make any amendment to the law to prevent Hicks from profiting from any book that he should “write”.
I gather though that he has done a lot of reading in the last few years so he may well come out of prison a far better educated man than the one that went in.
Well I’m not certain alturism would be a motive either. But it would be in Hicks’ interest to seperate himself from his past. If he can’t make money from his story then the Bali bombing victims would be a worthy recipient. I’m sure a good proportion of them would tell him to piss off. I’m equally certain the government would seize the money for themselves. They have junkets to pay for and everything.
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That said the book, or his story in one form or another would be useful. It would give us insight into how people get involved in this sort of thing and what precisely this sort of thing is.
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Incidentally according to one of the US military commissioners the dumbarse cowboy view of Hicks appears to be correct.