[JURIST] The Federal Magistrate Court of Australia [official website] Tuesday relaxed certain control order [JURIST report] restrictions against former Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks [JURIST news archive], permitting him to reside anywhere in the country subject to approval from the Australian Federal Police (AFP) [official website]. Hicks will have to report twice a week to the AFP, and will still be barred from leaving Australia or possessing weapons. Hicks was previously required to reside within his home state of South Australia and was required to report three times a week to the AFP.

Hicks pleaded guilty to a charge of supporting terrorism [JURIST reports] before a US military commission last March after spending more than five years in US custody since his capture in Afghanistan. Hicks was transferred to Australia in May 2007 to serve the remainder of his nine-month prison sentence at a maximum security prison near his hometown of Adelaide, South Australia, and was released [JURIST reports] in December. AP has more.