Hicks not nice: Henderson

Supporters of David Hicks were this week shocked by Gerard Henderson's revelation that in fact, David Hicks is not a nice person. Henderson's groundbreaking expose on Hicks draws heavily on research which led him to discover little-known footage of the Adelaide man's letters to his father. The footage has remained unseen for many months now, because it was broadcast in prime-time on the SBS network.

"I was stunned to hear of this" declared human rights campaigner Selma Ramos. "If I had known all this time that David Hicks once had a commitment to radical Islam and said some anti-semitic things, I'd never have got on board with this case."

Other campaigners have expressed similar disappointment. Stewart Barr, president of Amnesty International Australia told The Daily Worry "Look this really is heartbreaking, we feel lied to and betrayed. His dad told us he was a nice boy who'd done nothing wrong. I mean, we knew he'd met Osama Bin Laden, but it didn't click with us exactly what that meant until Henderson pointed out that Bin Laden doesn't 'mix with idiots who have made unfortunate career decisions'. David is obviously following the career-path he chose, so we should leave him to it."

Asked if Amnesty International would continue to campaign for Hicks, Barr replied "absolutely not. Amnesty only stands up for the rights of people who are nice, because yucky people deserve whatever they get."

Greens leader Bob Brown was similarly disillusioned. "The Greens completely support due process and the right of habeas corpus. We believe that people should be quickly tried under a fair and impartial judicial system and should not be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment or extended periods of solitary confinement. But only if they're nice people."

Democrats senator Natasha Stott Despoja was likewise excusatory. "I'd just like to say thankyou to Gerard Henderson. If he hadn't pointed out that David Hicks had changed his name to Mohammed Dawood some years ago, I'd still be supporting him."

Asked whether she'd be offering the government an apology for her misguidedly persistent badgering over Hicks, Ms Stott Despoja replied "look, I don't subscribe to the black-armband view of history so I'm not going to go apologising for things which happened in the past."