By IANS
Sydney/Bangalore : Muhammad Haneef was Friday set to be released after 25 days in detention after the Australian government absolved him of charges of supporting terrorism, amid demands that those behind the tragedy of errors must quit and that the Indian doctor be sent home honourably.
Haneef will be allowed to live in residential detention and move about in the community with the charges against him being dropped and police admitting that there were irregularities in evidence and there was no prospect of conviction.
The 27-year-old Gold Coast registrar, who was arrested July 2, was not in court when the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), who was reviewing all the material in the case, dropped the charges.
He was still in solitary confinement in Brisbane's high security Wolston Correctional Centre where he has been held since July 18 on charges of supporting a terrorist organisation by "recklessly" giving his mobile phone SIM card to people planning the British bomb attacks.
There was elation at his home in Bangalore as the news came in.
"I am happy and relieved," said his wife Firdous Arshiya, who gave birth to a baby girl just a month ago.
"It is all (the release is) because of the prayers of all Indians," Firdous told IANS. "I have been maintaining that my husband is innocent. It has been proved."
But the fight hasn't yet ended for the doctor, whose 457 work visa was cancelled by Australian authorities hours after he was granted bail by the Brisbane Magistrates Court.
"I hope he will come home soon and they will not hold him back on the ground that his visa had been revoked," said Firdous, a software engineer.
Insisting that he should not be deported but should be given a bridge visa now that all charges have been dropped, she said he must return home "without any stigma".
The Indian government was also preparing to back her in her demand.
India will request the Australian government to grant Haneef a "regular visa", said Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed.
"The Indian High Commission in Canberra has been instructed to support Haneef to get a visa. We are happy that an Indian citizen has been absolved of charges of supporting terrorism," he said on an issue that galvanised not just Indians but also the Australian civil society.
In Australia, as demands for his resignation came in from citizens and the Green Party, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Kevin Andrews, who had cancelled Haneef's visa, said he stood by his earlier decision.
He said that while he is seeking further legal advice, "I am not proposing that Haneef will be put in immigration detention centre… or any other agreed place. He will be free to actually move about in the community".
Haneef will have some restrictions like reporting to the Immigration Department daily on phone and once a week in person.
Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Mick Keelty also defended himself by telling reporters that the force "has acted professionally and within the bound of law".
Haneef's lawyer Peter Russo has lodged an appeal, which will come up for hearing Aug 8, against the decision to cancel the visa in the Brisbane Federal Court.
Said rights advocate Marion Le: "I think that there is a problem with the way this so-called cancellation has been done. The visa holder is supposed to be first given a Notice of Intention to Cancel a Visa before it can be done and he then has 28 days in which to dispute the intention."
At least 10,000 Australians also signed an online petition calling for the reinstatement of Haneef's visa and demanding counter-terrorism responses to genuine threats and not imagined ones.
A huge gathering of protesters outside the Brisbane Magistrate's Court shouted slogans, seeking justice for Haneef.
A major rally is planned in Sydney this evening where people will be demanding that his visa be reinstated and he should be compensated.
Whether the minister will reinstate Haneef's visa remains to be seen. But on talkback radio, people are heaving a sigh of relief that finally justice has prevailed.
One caller said: "I am ashamed of my country and the people responsible for this case. What Dr Haneef has gone through, he will never forget in his life."