By NNN-Bernama
Melbourne : The lawyer for and Indian doctor wrongly suspected to be a terorist by Australian police called on the Australian Federal Police (AFP) to declare that they have completed their investigation and that they do not intend to take any further action against him, local media report.
After Australia’s Federal Court last month upheld a decision to return the doctor’s visa, the AFP had released a statement saying it was still investigating Dr Mohamed Haneef.
Peter Russo, the Brisbane lawyer representing Dr Haneef, told the newspaper that by continuing to claim he was “under investigation”, the AFP was exacerbating the harm already suffered by the doctor.
He said the AFP had had more than six months to complete their investigation, and all legal actions it had undertaken had been rebuffed.
“Six months should be more than enough time to complete the investigation, especially since the AFP claimed in July that they were devoting many officers and a lot of resources to the investigation,” Russo is quoted by The Australian newspaper as saying.
“If it took this long to complete an investigation where it was clear to the DPP (the Deputy Public Prosecutor) that no charges were warranted, what will happen to Australia if the same force has to investigate a real threat to Australia?
“Yet still the AFP refuse to admit that their inquiries have produced nothing incriminatory of Dr Haneef.”
Russo said it was unfair for the AFP to keep Dr Haneef under a cloud because his family was attempting to put in place “those things which were necessary for their return to Australia”.
Dr Haneef was working as a doctor at a Gold Coast hospital in Queensland state when he was arrested in connection with failed terrorist plots in London and Glasgow. He had indicated that he would like to have the option of returning to work in Australia.
Howeevr, he is not keen to leave behind in India his wife or his young daughter, who was born shortly before he was arrested in early July.