Aussie Guantanamo Detainee Tells Father He's Going Insane

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

November 1, 2004 1:22 a.m.

ADELAIDE, Australia (AP)--Australian terror suspect David Hicks is "teetering on the edge" of insanity because of his long stretches in solitary confinement at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, his father said Monday after receiving a letter from the captive.

Terry Hicks said his son's letter describes how the solitude has left him out of touch with reality.

"I spend an average 350 hours by myself between brief visits," Terry Hicks read to reporters from his son's

letter, received last month. "My entire life has become this tiny room and everything else is no longer reality.

"I feel as though I'm teetering on the edge of losing my sanity."

David Hicks, 29, a former cowboy who converted to Islam, could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted on

charges of conspiracy to commit war crimes, aiding the enemy and attempted murder.

Hicks has pleaded innocent to the charges. Court hearings on the case are set to begin Monday.

Terry Hicks on Monday reiterated his belief that his son's trial wasn't fair, particularly after a decision two weeks

ago to reduce the military commission - a panel of military officials to judge the case - from six members to three.

Three military officers were removed from the commission after questions were raised about their impartiality. They aren't being replaced.

The father said his family has never believed David Hicks would get a fair trial, and has maintained that the

detention is politically motivated.

"It's not geared to benefit David. It's geared for themselves (the commission)," Terry Hicks said. "They'll

try and find him guilty of something."

David Hicks, captured by U.S. troops for allegedly fighting alongside Taliban forces in Afghanistan in late 2001, is one of two Australians detained at the U.S. military enclave at Guantanamo Bay on the Caribbean island of Cuba.

He is also one of the few to be appointed a U.S. military lawyer and appear before the tribunal.

The case of the other Australian, Mamdouh Habib, also detained since late 2001, has yet to come before the

tribunal.