Yesterday, I predicted that former Al-Qaeda terrorist David Hicks would not offer a genuine apology for his role in terrorism, upon his release from prison today.
As it turns out, he did not even offer an insincere one.
A defiant David Hicks was in hiding last night after refusing to apologise for working with Islamic terror groups responsible for killing Australians.
Hicks, 32, looking robust and with shoulder-length hair, walked out of Adelaide’s Yatala Prison yesterday morning after nearly six years behind bars.
Almost a dozen police cars and motorbikes held back traffic and a no-fly zone grounded helicopters as Hicks made a quick getaway.
A relative in a Victorian-registered car took him to the first of a series of secret safe houses.
As he was taken away, federal police refused to say if they had authorised Hicks to move between addresses or even travel interstate.
Hicks made no apology for his actions in a statement read by his lawyer outside the prison after his client had left.
Asked if Hicks felt he had anything to be sorry for, his father, Terry, said: “I don’t think so.”
Mr Hicks later refused to say if Hicks was sorry for training with al-Qaida and serving alongside the Taliban.
“I think that’s probably irrelevant now. He’s out,” he said.
That’s Terry “Dangerfield” Hicks for you. Consider him to be the tree from which the rotten apple did not fall far.
Update: I take it back. Hicks did apologize for something.
Hicks apologised for not facing the media directly but said he felt unable to.
“I know you all hoped I might appear and answer some questions,” he said. “I had hoped to be able to speak to the media but I am just not strong enough at the moment. I am sorry for that.”
I dunno. He’s look rather robust these days, no doubt courtesy of his Guantanamo Bay days.
Update: According to the Sydney Morning Herald, our terrortubby friend may not be so jolly.
Mr Hicks’s family said that, despite his relief, he was crippled by fears that he would be a target for Muslim or far-right extremists, or inadvertently breach his plea bargain agreement and be sent back to Guantanamo Bay or be punished by the Australian or South Australian governments if he spoke out or be hounded by the media, exposing him to all these risks.
Mr McLeod said his client had concerns for himself and his family because extremist groups believed that, by renouncing his Islamic faith in 2002, he had dropped his allegiance to Osama bin Laden. His al-Qaeda training and capture among Taliban forces in Afghanistan could also anger nationalist groups, he said.
By the way, the title of that report was Hicks tastes freedom but fears for his life. It’s all about the eating, isn’t it.
