By Neena Bhandari, IANS
Sydney : Each day as the drama unfolds in the media, a new leak, a fresh faux pas, another denial, Muhammad Haneef's case is slipping into a shambles even as support for the detained 27-year-old Indian doctor mounts from all quarters.
Haneef's lawyer Peter Russo Monday lodged an affidavit in the Federal Court to support Haneef's appeal against Immigration and Citizenship Minister Kevin Andrews's decision to cancel his 457 work visa. His wife's cousin, Imran Siddiqui, was granted permission to meet him at 1.30 p.m. Tuesday.
Siddiqui told the media that he was anxious to provide news of the family to Haneef, who is in solitary confinement at Brisbane's Wolston Correctional Centre, and assure him that his wife and new-born child were well and being looked after.
As support for Haneef grows, a prominent Melbourne lawyer Julian Burnside told IANS: "It is scandalous that the minister cancelled Haneef's visa, not to deport him but for the purpose of side-stepping the bail. The minister is effectively jailing a person for two years based on secret evidence."
Burnside says the way the minister has exercised his executive powers is "scandalous for any democratic society". He also feels in Haneef's case "the presumption of innocence has not been taken seriously until it began to look that in fact he was innocent.
"It's regrettable that the whole exercise has been so badly bungled. It begins to look very much an election stunt that didn't work."
India's Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss, who is in Sydney to attend the third Asia Pacific Ministerial Meeting on HIV/AIDS, expressed concern over the situation facing Haneef.
The minister said: "We are very concerned about Dr Haneef. He should be given all opportunities to prove his innocence in the existing framework of law in this country."
Meanwhile, AFP Commissioner Mick Keelty in a statement said media reports Monday alleging that AFP members have made handwritten notes in the diary of Haneef was not correct.
He said: "Police at no time made any notations or additions to Dr Haneef's diary. As this matter is currently before the court, it is not appropriate for the AFP to elaborate in greater detail.
"The reporting and speculation surrounding this information highlights the difficulties associated with the public release of the AFP Record of Interview before it could be presented to the court.
"When misinterpreted or taken out of context – and in the absence of other material that will be placed before the court – this has the potential to undermine the court process."
The Australian newspaper had reported that investigating AFP officers wrote the names of overseas terror suspects in Haneef's personal diary and grilled him over it during interrogations.
Meanwhile, a slanging match over the issue has erupted between the two main political parties. Prime Minister John Howard has attacked Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd for "double-dealing" on the issue.
Opposition Labour Party has in principle supported the government in the Haneef case, but Queensland State Premier Peter Beattie has likened the Australian Federal Police to the "Keystone Cops" following alleged bungling in the investigation.
The Greens Party is calling for probing the role of the government to tarnish Haneef's reputation.
Law Council president Tim Bugg told the media: "Under the Migration Act, if he is in detention as a result of some action which has seen him have his visa taken away, which of course has happened here, the minister can look at granting a bridging visa. We say it is appropriate for him to do that."
With a bridging visa Haneef can live in the community. The visa is normally given to immigrants who cannot be immediately deported.
Civil liberty groups are also aghast at the twists and turns Haneef's case has taken.
Kristine Klugman, president of Civil Liberties Australia, told IANS: "Dr Haneef has been shabbily treated by the Australian government and the national police force.
"We hope what seems to be their ill-considered and hasty reactions won't harm Australia's reputation internationally. The AFP police presumed Dr Haneef guilty from the outset, rather than keeping an open mind while they investigated, and leaked fanciful and harmful stories against him to the media.
"Then Immigration Minister Andrews made a formal decision that Dr Haneef is a person of doubtful character, based solely on secret information from an obviously-prejudiced police force.
"The AFP have admitted spending more than 3,000 police days – 30 police over 10 days – and poring over 30,000 documents on his laptop computer without finding any suspicious evidence against Dr Haneef other than he doesn't like wasting leftover money on a SIM card," said Klugman.