By Neena Bhandari
Sydney, Aug 23 (IANS) The Law Council of Australia has called for an end to the Muhammad Haneef saga even as Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews invited more criticism following the release of the full transcript of the Indian doctor’s second interview with police which shows that he had arranged for leave from the Gold Coast Hospital before leaving for India and was not attempting to flee.
The lawyers of the freed terror suspect have defended the decision to make the transcript public as the Australian Federal Police await legal advice on whether Haneef’s lawyers acted inappropriately in releasing it Wednesday.
Law Council of Australia President Tim Bugg said: “Australians should be concerned that Minister Andrews is so determined to pursue the power to expel a person from Australia, on the basis that they have, without (investigating) more, merely associated with a suspected criminal. This is a character test that is not about character at all.
“The minister’s continuing public comments on the alleged merits of the Haneef case, which are so inconsistent with any sense of procedural fairness or the presumption of innocence, provide sufficient cause for his removal,” Bugg added.
The full transcript of Haneef’s second interview – conducted through the afternoon of Friday July 13 into the early hours of July 14 – was released by his legal team.
His lawyer Peter Russo told the media that the transcript showed his client had arranged leave from the Gold Coast Hospital before his arrest at Brisbane airport July 2. He had also attempted to contact British police in order to explain his position in relation to the SIM card he loaned to his second cousin Sabeel Ahmed, who is suspected of knowing about the failed terror plot in Britain but not informing the authorities about it.
Andrews had also selectively released details of chatroom discussions between Haneef and relatives in Britain, and made them the basis for his decision to cancel Haneef’s visa. He had selectively released information from the chatroom discussion between Haneef and his brother earlier this month.
The media and the legal fraternity have been scathing of Andrews’ handling of this case.
Andrews told the media in Adelaide Thursday: “The (AFP) Chief Commissioner, Mick Keelty, has said to me all through this that the information should not be released because it would jeopardise those investigations. Now they are, obviously, very concerned about, what they regard, the release of that transcript as irresponsible and unprofessional.
“… You know, this is a balance of public information on the one hand and national security on the other. And I don’t think Haneef’s lawyers running around conducting some sort of public relations campaign the way they are is doing anything in terms of the national security of this country and that’s why the AFP are pretty annoyed,” Andrews told the media.
However, an editorial in the Sydney Morning Herald says: “…Yet if anyone looks suspicious, it is Andrews following yesterday’s release of the full transcript of Haneef’s second interview with federal police.”
Haneef’s legal team released a 378-page transcript of the second interview with Brisbane police held on July 13. Andrews had used selective quotes from the transcript at a July 31 media conference to justify his decision to cancel the Indian doctor’s work visa, a decision quashed by the Federal Court in Brisbane on Aug 21, but the minister is appealing against it.
Russo said the information was put in the public realm because Haneef wants to prove that he had “nothing to hide”.
AFP, however, is not happy at all. It said: “The continuing attempts by Haneef’s defence team to use the media to run their case is both unprofessional and inappropriate and the AFP has raised this aspect with the Queensland Legal Services Commission. AFP has acted appropriately throughout the investigation.”
In this federal election year, the Howard government is playing the counter terrorism card as a new survey shows Australians are becoming increasingly worried about their personal security and that of the nation. The Unisys Security Index gives Australians a rating of 144 out of 300 in terms of their collective security fears.
Haneef was in a Brisbane jail for 25 days from July 2 and returned to Bangalore after the Australian police dropped terror charges against him.
He was charged with being “reckless” in giving his mobile SIM card to his cousin Sabeel Ahmed while leaving Britain for Australia to work in the Gold Coast Hospital.