By Dale Mills & Tony Iltis
21 July 2007
21 July 2007
The decision by immigration minister Kevin Andrews to throw 27-year-old Indian doctor Mohamed Haneef into immigration detention — despite a Queensland court granting Haneef bail on charges of “recklessly” (meaning not deliberately) supporting terrorism — has further exposed the Howard government’s utter disregard for civil rights and the judicial system, and the dangers inherent in its “anti-terror” laws.
Haneef, an Indian citizen working as a medical registrar at the Gold Coast Hospital, was arrested at Brisbane Airport on July 2 and detained without charge. On July 14 he was finally charged with “recklessly providing support to a terrorist organisation” in Britain.
On July 16, bail was granted to Haneef on the basis that he provide a $10,000 surety and report to police three times a week. While there is a presumption against bail under the “anti-terror” laws unless exceptional circumstances can be shown, magistrate Jacqui Payne decided that there were indeed exceptional circumstances — an extremely weak prosecution case.
The only “evidence” known to link Haneef to any alleged crime was that his cousin, Sabeel Ahmed, has been charged in Britain with withholding information that could have prevented a terrorist act and that Haneef gave Ahmed a mobile phone SIM card last September — because the card had unused credit — before Haneef left Britain to work in Australia.
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On July 16, bail was granted to Haneef on the basis that he provide a $10,000 surety and report to police three times a week. While there is a presumption against bail under the “anti-terror” laws unless exceptional circumstances can be shown, magistrate Jacqui Payne decided that there were indeed exceptional circumstances — an extremely weak prosecution case.
The only “evidence” known to link Haneef to any alleged crime was that his cousin, Sabeel Ahmed, has been charged in Britain with withholding information that could have prevented a terrorist act and that Haneef gave Ahmed a mobile phone SIM card last September — because the card had unused credit — before Haneef left Britain to work in Australia.
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