SYDNEY, Australia - An Australian former Guantanamo Bay inmate has become a completely free man for the first time in seven years when the final restrictions stemming from terrorism allegations ended.
David Hicks is a 33-year-old ex-kangaroo skinner and Outback cowboy.
He spent more than five years in U.S. custody at the military detention centre in Cuba before striking a plea deal that returned him home to Australia to serve a nine-month sentence.
Hicks was released a year ago after completing the sentence for providing support for terrorism.
However, he was placed under a strict court order that required him to report to police three days a week.
He also had to observe a curfew and was banned from using any telephone or Internet account not approved by police.
The order expired at midnight Saturday.
Australian Federal Police, who had sought the original order citing national security reasons, said last month it had decided not to ask a court to renew the restrictions.
Hicks has kept a low profile since being released from prison.
He's living in his home city of Adelaide, and has said through lawyers and recorded statements that he is struggling to return to a normal life after suffering trauma at Guantanamo Bay.
