Guantanamo detainee David Hicks pleads guilty to providing "material support"

March 27, 2007

David Hicks of Australia who has been detained by the United States since 2001, pleaded guilty on Monday to charges of providing material support to terrorist organizations.

Hicks answered "yes, sir," when the judge, Marine Colonel Kohlmann, asked if "guilty" was in fact his plea. The plea appears to be the result of an agreement between prosecutors and defense attorneys. Under a long-standing agreement, Hicks will be able to serve his sentence in Australia.

Hicks is the first detainee to face prosecution at the U.S. Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba under revised military tribunal laws. He was accused of attending training camps and briefly fighting alongside the  in Afghanistan.