Australia drops Guantanamo memoirs case

Australia on Tuesday dropped a case against ex-Guantanamo Bay inmate David Hicks over his prison memoir, concluding that his admissions to a US Military Commission would not stand up in court. Federal prosecutors launched proceedings against Hicks, 36, in the Supreme Court last year seeking to have the earnings from his autobiography, "Guantanamo: My Journey" declared criminal proceeds seizable by the state.
But government counsel Lionel Robberds said the director of public prosecutions (DPP) had decided to withdraw the case which reportedly centred on Aus$10,000 (US $10,200) from the sale of 30,000 books. The DPP said the decision had been taken after Hicks challenged the admissibility of evidence including the agreed facts, certificate of conviction and transcript of his hearings before the Military Commission at Guantanamo.