Political Activism
Smith donated A$60,000 in February 2007 towards a campaign to secure a fair trial for then Australian terrorism suspect David Hicks who had been held in a U.S. military prison in Cuba's Guantanamo Bay for five years. Smith said he wanted Hicks to get "a fair trial, a fair go". Fresh charges, including attempted murder, had been filed against Hicks earlier that month. Hicks pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in March 2007 as part of a plea bargain, and was released from custody in December 2007.
Smith financially assisted Australian Greens leader Senator Bob Brown after he was left with a $240,000 anti-logging court bill after losing a case he brought against Forestry Tasmania. A failure to pay would have resulted in Brown having to declare bankruptcy, and therefore lose his seat in the Senate.
Read more about this topic: Dick Smith (entrepreneur)
Famous quotes containing the word political:
“Our political problem now is “Can we, as a nation, continue together permanentlyforever—half slave, and half free?” The problem is too mighty for me. May God, in his mercy, superintend the solution.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)