By Neena Bhandari, IANS
Sydney : Australian police were Monday given 48 more hours to continue detaining without charge Indian doctor Muhammad Haneef, in custody since July 2 for the British terror plot, even as doctors decried the "media circus" that might put all of them under a cloud.
Haneef, the 27-year-old registrar of a Gold Coast hospital who the police are holding in Brisbane, has reportedly been interrogated for only 12 hours in all of last week and apart from investigators appears only to have had contact with his lawyer since July 5. Officers searched his flat close to the hospital and have towed his car away.
His lawyer Peter Russo told The Courier Mail that it was his understanding that a New Scotland Yard detective, who had arrived in Brisbane July 5, was also yet to interrogate Haneef, held under Australian counter-terrorism laws.
Prime Minister John Howard said: "They (the laws) are being tried for the first time, not only in this case but in some other cases.
"If the laws turn out to be inadequate then the government will look at making them more adequate. But I'm not saying that they're inadequate, it's too early. This is new territory, but it's territory that we'll have to get used to for many years into the future."
According to Andrew Schwartz, the president of the Australian Doctors Trained Overseas, the way the issue had been played up by the media was highly disappointing.
Schwartz told IANS: "It is not normal police procedure to have this media circus. What purpose does it serve to publicise every little move? This unnecessary publicity will make the Australian public wary of going to overseas trained doctors and it will make overseas trained doctors wary of coming to work in Australia.
"Australia's going to be dependent for many more years on overseas trained doctors."
Quoting a personal example, Schwartz said: "My wife comes from Argentina and there it was sufficient to be in the address book of a suspected terrorist for another individual to become a suspected terrorist. In these doctors' cases, it is similar."
Police have been interrogating Haneef in connection with the terror plot in Britain as well as "his connection with an underground network of radical Islamist doctors", according to media reports.
Police are examining more than 30,000 documents seized in raids across Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia, including files on Haneef's laptop and mobile phone SIM card left with the alleged bombers in Britain. They are also tracking his bank transactions.
Attorney General Philip Ruddock said Haneef appeared to have tried to leave the country "rather hurriedly" on a one-way ticket. But Haneef's family explained that this was to see his newborn child and his wife, who was ill.
Ruddock told Southern Cross Broadcasting: "That may be well the reason, but certainly the appearance was that his intention (was) to leave with speed. The further explanations that have been offered may be reasonable but they may also be a cover for something else."
Ruddock also didn't rule out the possibility that other foreign doctors interviewed in Australia, but later released by the police, would be interrogated again.
Haneef's lawyer Peter Russo said he might finally be given the material pertaining to the detention.
He told the Australian Broadcasting Corp Monday: "It's difficult to work out what has actually happened because the only source of information that I have really is the media.
"It's very unfair. The only way you can get a fair and balanced hearing is if both parties have an opportunity to first of all view each other's material and then make submissions based on the information that's before the magistrate and also the opportunity to get some instructions in relation to the allegations – if any – that are being made.
"The person has been detained for questioning only, it's not a person who's been charged with an offence or is about to be charged with an offence," he added.
The lawyer said: "From when I became involved on Thursday night I understand I've been the only contact that he's had. At this stage he hasn't (spoken to anyone else), but my understanding is there was permission given sometime today for him to be able to speak with his wife in India."
According to attorney general Ruddock, however, it was legal for the police to withhold information from the lawyer because his client had not yet been charged.
Mohammed Asif Ali, 26, the other doctor arrested in Brisbane and later released, has not returned to work despite Queensland State Health Minister Stephen Robertson saying "he's shown himself to be a good doctor and very popular. We want him back because we need his work".
The Gold Coast Hospital management is hoping that Ali will get back to work.