By Neena Bhandari, IANS
Sydney/New Delhi : Muhammad Haneef, the Indian doctor detained without charge in a Brisbane watch house for nine days in connection with the British terror bombings, will spend two more days in detention – even as an Australian minister said he was assumed to be innocent unless proved otherwise.
Brisbane court proceedings were adjourned Wednesday until 2.15 p.m. Friday. The Australian Federal Police (AFP) applied for a three-day extension to Haneef's detention without charge.
Haneef's lawyer Peter Russo told the media: "The matter has been adjourned until Friday afternoon. There was legal argument tonight and the magistrate has gone away to consider that. I can't really comment on what the point of law was at this stage because, basically, he has reserved his decision."
Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Australian Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said of Haneef: "There is an assumption of innocence unless proven otherwise".
"It needs to be emphasised that our concerns relate to the behaviour of terrorists. We also assume (Haneef's) innocence till proven otherwise and we will work with the Indian police authorities in concluding the investigations," Nelson, himself a medical doctor by training, maintained.
Since his arrest July 2, Haneef was able to speak to his wife in Bangalore for the first time after the Indian consulate confirmed the family phone number for security purposes Wednesday afternoon.
The Australian Greens Party has called for Haneef to be charged or released. Greens senator Kerry Nettle told reporters: "It's quite an extraordinary period of detention."
Civil liberty groups here are saying that Haneef is being denied natural justice even as the authorities argue that the complexity of the case is making it necessary to detain him.
Asked how long Haneef would be detained, Nelson said: "I can't shed any information on this beyond saying there is an assumption of innocence unless otherwise proved."
"A detention is ordered after due processes by a judge or a magistrate. These processes, by necessity and definition are complex. The period of detention is dependant on the police being satisfied in completing their enquiry and ensuring all relevant lines of investigation are complete.
"The process is thorough, scrupulous and meticulous. There is no intention of detention beyond the period considered relevant by a magistrate," the minister added.
Haneef has been held without charge under Australia's new counter terrorism laws. There have been concerns raised from various quarters since the counter terrorism laws were introduced. There is no specified maximum time limit for detention in the legislation. Civil liberty groups are calling on the Australian government to review these laws.
University of New South Wales Professor George Williams told local media: "He (Haneef) doesn't know whether he's going to be charged, he doesn't know whether he's going to be set free.
"Unfortunately what happens during this period is people speculate, they wonder what's happening, they think 'where there's smoke there's fire' and his reputation gets tarnished. Even if it turns out that he's done absolutely nothing then he will find it very hard to go back to his normal life."
However, federal attorney general Philip Ruddock has maintained that Haneef's detention is essential because the police needs more time to examine the 31,000 documents seized from across Australia.
Defending Haneef's arrest, Ruddock told ABC Radio: "The length of time a person can be held without charge in Australia is determined by a magistrate. It's limited by the reasonableness and the evidence."
Ruddock told the media: "This is not a situation in which the police are free agents in relation to holding people. These are the issues that the court has to take into account in deciding whether or not the period is reasonable.
"You would be asking me different types of questions if the inquiries were truncated unnecessarily and we found out later that there were avenues of inquiry that could have been pursued … that would have been or may have been ascertained and weren't, if some terrible event happened in Australia."
Australia has also despatched a federal police officer to New Delhi to probe the Indian end of the London bombings and Nelson admitted to receiving a communication on this from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
"We are aware of the letter rogatory from the CBI. We are negotiating on this through the processes of the Indian and Australian governments. We are dealing with this in the appropriate manner," the minister maintained.
The president of the Queensland council for civil liberties Michael Cope has said the judicial process in Haneef's case has been hampered by the fact his lawyer has been denied access to the evidence collected by the police against his client.
Meanwhile, according to an intelligence source quoted in the country's current affairs magazine, The Bulletin, a group of 20-25 Australian men and women are now under constant surveillance as they can pose a potential threat.
The magazine says intelligence officials believe the APEC summit in Sydney, scheduled for early September, will be an appealing target.
US President George W. Bush, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Hu Jintao and other world leaders will be attending the summit.
Nelson also sought to downplay fears that Haneef's detention and the arrest of his two cousins in Britain in connection with the car bombings, would lead to racial stereotyping of Indian doctors in Australia.
"Any screening on lines of nationality or religion is not acceptable. Recruitment is in line with international standards. Nothing else should matter," he said.
Nelson also spoke highly of the contribution of Indian doctors in Australia since the end of the Second World War.
"As a medical practitioner, as an Australian minister, I can say the Australian healthcare system is of an extremely high standard largely due to the determination, hard work and dedication of Indian doctors. After World War II, Indian doctors performed a key role in taking healthcare services to the rural areas.
"There are 156,000 Indians in Australia. They are making a key contribution to building a modern Australia," Nelson said.
(Neena Bhandari can be contacted at [email protected])