Hicks vows to continue legal fight if appeal fails Former Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks during a press conference. Former Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks and his legal team will go all the way to the US federal courts if they have to, in a bid to clear his name and overturn his conviction for the "invented" crime of providing material support for terrorism. Mr Hicks, flanked by his Adelaide-based lawyer Stephen Kenny from Camatta Lempens, told a press conference in Sydney on Wednesday that if his first appeal to the US Court of Military Commission Review, lodged this week, failed, they would continue the legal fight. "Today's action is only the first step in a lengthy process to have my plea formally overturned," Mr Hicks said. Mr Hicks said that he did not expect to find justice at the military commissions system, because it was not "structured for fairness or justice." However, he said that, if the appeal failed, the next step would be to appeal in the US civilian federal courts "where I expect to finally have a fair hearing and be successful as the other two dormer detainees who have gone before me have shown." The appeal papers in the US Court of Military Commission Review argued for a summary dismissal of Mr Hicks' conviction because the offence was not a war crime at the time he was detained, and his guilty plea was only made under duress because of his detention, torture, and abuse at Guantanamo Bay. Mr Kenny and the Centre for Constitutional Rights in the US are acting pro bono for Mr Hicks. Mr Hicks was apprehended in 2001, during the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, by the Northern Alliance and sold to the US military. He was sent to Guantanamo Bay where he was held for 5½ years before being convinced to give an Alford Plea, which is not recognised in Australia. The plea meant he acknowledged that there was evidence against him but he did not make any admissions. The deal was that he would be convicted in the US of providing material support for terrorism but he would be allowed to return to Australia and serve a seven-month prison sentence. He only agreed to it because he was depressed, suicidal and believed he would never be released even if he went to trial and was found not guilty. Mr Kenny said the charge of providing material support for terrorism was invented in 2006, five years after Mr Hicks was captured in Afghanistan. The court has already overturned the similar conviction of Osama bin Laden's driver, Salim Hamdan. Mr Hicks, who now works as a panel beater, still suffers from the abuse and torture he received at Guantanamo Bay. During his detention, he was beaten, sexually assaulted, injected with unknown substances, subjected to sleep deprivation and endless periods of solitary confinement. Mr Hicks said he has back pain, teeth and health problems, and still has nightmares. "It is not behind me, I have had counselling ... it has impacted on me," he said. I still live it. People refer to me as a convicted terrorist or a threat ... it still has an impact on me. He said having his conviction overturned will help bring him closure and the ability to move forward and heal.