ABC News
Thursday August 1, 2002


*Habib lawyer plans Cuban trial attempt*

The lawyer for a Sydney man who is being held in a US prison in Cuba on
suspicion of being a Taliban member says he may apply to have his
client's case heard in the Cuban court system.

A US Federal Court judge has ruled that Adelaide man David Hicks cannot
have his case heard in a US court because the prison camp is not under
US jurisdiction.

Steven Hopper, who represents Sydney man Mamdouh Habib, says his client
is also applying to have his case heard under the US system.

He says if that is dismissed on similar grounds he will go to the courts
in Cuba.

"According to this judgment they say the United States doesn't have
sovereignty over, or de facto sovereignty as the argument was, over
Guantanemo naval base in Cuba.

"We say if the US admit that they don't have sovereignty, that means
that the Cuban courts must have."

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