David Hicks, the former Guantanamo Bay detainee who was nicknamed the “Aussie Taliban,” has raised some tough questions in Australia with his memoir.
Many are debating if Hicks should be paid royalties for Guantanamo: My Journey, a book published by Random House Australia last October. According to the BBC, the book has sold about 30,000 copies, but Australian law won’t let criminals profit from their crimes.
The BBC has more: “Hicks pleaded guilty before a US military commission of providing material support for terrorism and the book therefore comes under [Australia’s] Commonwealth Proceeds of Crime Act, which prevents convicted criminals of profiting from their crimes. For the Hicks family, the issue is also uncomplicated. They are arguing that his conviction should not be recognised by the Australian courts because the US military commission at Guantanamo Bay should not be recognised as a valid legal body.”