Former prime minister Malcolm Fraser says the United States and Australian governments are working to ensure Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks is found guilty.
Mr Fraser has addressed eminent Australians, academics and teachers at a human rights education conference at the University of Melbourne.
He says the Howard Government has done nothing to stop the delays and torturous conditions at Guantanamo Bay.
"After five years of quite inhumane and degrading treatment, a verdict of innocence would be extraordinarily embarrassing to both governments, perhaps enough to defeat a government as more and more Australians really come to understand the nature of government's betrayal of the rights of an Australian citizen," he said.
"On this analysis, the United States cannot and clearly will not allow a fair trial."
"As the bottom line, if the United States had wanted a fair trial, it would have used the normal court system or military court martials - we could all then have confidence in either course.
"The United States has in fact spent enormous energy to try and guarantee the kind of verdict it clearly wants."
US details Hicks charges
Earlier today the United States military released details of its new case against Hicks, who is facing charges of providing material support for terrorism and attempted murder.
For the first time, Hicks's alleged contact with British shoe bomber Richard Reid at an Al Qaeda course in Afghanistan in August 2001 is outlined as part of the charges.
He allegedly personally collected intelligence on the US Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, and was trained in covert photography, the use of dead drops and the use of disguises.
The charge sheet also alleges Hicks later armed himself with 300 rounds of ammunition as he prepared to fight against coalition forces at the Kandahar airport.
Originally from Adelaide, Hicks has been held at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba since 2002.
The convert to Islam was captured in Afghanistan, where he allegedly fought alongside the ruling Taliban against US-led forces, who invaded after the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.
