regardless of what you may think about Jack Thomas - whether he is a potential terrorist or a fool - what the outcome of this appeal shows is that the Australian legal system still considers proper legal process to be the way to conduct matters.
This does not include evidence gained through dubious interrogation methods.
Regardless of your views on terrorism, I am glad to live in a society where this is still considered the better way to conduct these cases.
Incidentally, I saw Andrew Denton interview Major Michael Mori (David Hick's lawyer) this week on Enough Rope. I am sure that if Hicks had been guilty of the same alleged crimes - whatever they are - and could have been tried in Australia, he would have at least had the opportunity of a fair go.
Quote:
Friday, August 18, 2006. 8:32pm (AEST)
Lodhi lawyer welcomes Thomas appeal win
The lawyer for Faheem Khalid Lodhi, a Sydney man convicted of preparing for a terrorist attack, has described the result of Jack Thomas's appeal as a great shot in the arm for the justice system.
Thomas was the first Australian convicted under new federal terrorism legislation.
But today his convictions on the charges of receiving funds from a terrorist organisation and carrying a falsified passport were quashed by the Victorian Supreme Court of Appeal.
Phillip Bolton SC, who is also president of the Criminal Defence Lawyers Association, says he was not surprised to learn that Thomas's conviction had been quashed.
"Well the first thing to understand is that justice should be done in the good old-fashioned way," he said.
"Confessions that are extracted after months and months of confinement and interrogation by the CIA and Pakistani secret service agents is not the way to conduct justice."
Thomas was sentenced to five years in jail in March.
His lawyers argued the interview he did with Australian Federal Police (AFP) in Pakistan should have been ruled inadmissable because he had no legal representation and only agreed to it because he had earlier been threatened with torture by foreign security agencies.
The Victorian Supreme Court of Appeal today agreed the interview was inadmissable and has adjourned the prosecution's bid for a retrial to a later date.
The prosecution believes fresh evidence emerged in Thomas's post-trial interview with the ABC's Four Corners program.
|
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems...8/s1718776.htm
here is the link to the transcript with Michael Mori.
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/enoughrope/...s/s1709428.htm
It is very interesting - previously Mori was Chief Prosecutor at the US military base in Hawaii. With such a background he can give an interesting perspective on the way justice is being conducted in this case.