Taliban Suspect’s Father Protests in New York

"I want to bring attention to my son," Mr Hicks said, peering through the wire. "This cage is the same size as the one he’s been held in for 19 months. You’ve seen what happens to animals in the zoo if you keep them locked up like this? I want some sympathy for him."
Mr Hicks’s son, David, is the Australian who was captured fighting for the Taliban in Afghanistan. He is to face a military tribunal, but has not had access to lawyers or his family.

It is likely that David would be amazed by what his father did yesterday in trying to bring attention to his situation. In recent years the two were not that close. The son had been overseas, and it was not uncommon for Mr Hicks to go months without hearing from him.

Mr Hicks gave his press conference on busy Broadway, over the noise of passing trucks. His friends had earlier chained his cage to a fence for safekeeping, and then lost the key. A man eventually arrived with boltcutters and, with TV cameras still in attendance, Mr Hicks put his cage together and got inside.

"This isn’t easy for me," he said, demonstrating how hard it was to take more than four steps in such a small cage. "But think of David. He has two 15-minute breaks for exercise every week. You wouldn’t do it to a dog," he said, his fingers turning white as they gripped the wire.

American reporters asked what kind of boy David was growing up. "He was a bit of a prankster," Mr Hicks said, through the wire of his cage. "He liked adventure. Now he’s gone too far and got into trouble. But David is not a terrorist. The (US) Government is trying to make the public think this bloke is bad. He’s not. He’s a good lad."