Kim Bullimore, Melbourne

On March 1, 160 people packed out the Kaliede Theatre to hear former Guantanamo Bay detainee Moazzam Begg speak live from England via video conferencing hookup. The public forum, organised by the Civil Rights Defence committee, was also addressed by Terry Hicks, father of David Hicks; civil liberties advocate Julian Burnside QC; and Rob Stary, solicitor for Jack Thomas.

In the 30-minute hook up, Begg told the audience how he’d been in Pakistan to set up a school when he was kidnapped in February 2002 by the CIA and taken to the US air base at Bagram, 60 kilometres north of Kabul in Afghanistan. While there, he witnessed the murder of two fellow detainees at the hands of US security personnel.

Stary told the audience that the “Melbourne 10” — the Muslim men arrested in last November’s Australian Federal Police raids — were in some ways in a more serious position than Jack Thomas. Lawyers trying to prepare the defence for the men are facing restrictions on access to their clients. In response, Civil Rights Defence is planning a solidarity bus trip to Barwon Prison in April.

From Green Left Weekly, March 8, 2006.
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