Hicks to face a court martial if Kerry wins

[JI7]

<ALLEGED Australian terrorist David Hicks might be tried by a US court martial rather than a controversial military commission if senator John Kerry wins the White House on November 2.

Democrat vice-presidential candidate John Edwards has told the Washington Post a Kerry administration would scrap the commissions and replace them with a new model based on the traditional military justice system.

Hicks, 29, is due to face trial by a five-member military commission on January 10 after a preliminary hearing last week in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiring with al-Qa'ida, attempted murder and aiding the enemy.

If he wins the election, Senator Kerry would not take over until an inauguration on January 20, 2005 -- after the Hicks commission trial is due to begin.

Hicks's lawyers, US marine Major Michael Mori and New York civilian counsel Josh Dratel, are challenging the legality of the commissions and the charges through the US courts. >

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,10652271%255E2702,00.html