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| Down Under | |
| Haneef seeks to get his visa back | |
| 2007-08-09 | |
| Lawyers in Australia acting for Indian doctor Mohammed Haneef have launched an appeal against the decision to cancel his working visa. Dr Haneef was detained for several weeks in Australia, before a terror charge against him was dropped. But Australian Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said he still had suspicions against him. Dr Haneef is now back in India and did not attend the appeal in Brisbane, which was adjourned until Thursday. For Dr Haneef, the fight to get back his visa is not only a matter of honour and pride but one of practical necessity, the BBC's Nick Bryant in Sydney says. He would like to have the option of returning to work in Australia.
But even after the charge against him, relating to failed bomb attacks in London and Glasgow at the end of June, was dropped, Australia's immigration minister stuck by his controversial decision. Kevin Andrews maintained that the Indian doctor had failed what is called the character test, because of his association with alleged criminals. Mr Andrews continues to say he harbours suspicions about the doctor. But Dr Haneef's defence team argue that the immigration laws were applied simply to keep him behind bars while the criminal case against him was falling apart, and they insist that this action was improper. Normally it is hard to win appeals of this kind because the immigration minister has such wide-ranging powers. But the federal court judge hearing the case has already been critical of Mr Andrews' use of the character test. By the standard being applied, Justice Jeffrey Spender said that he too would have failed, because he had represented criminals during his career as a barrister. | |
| Posted by:lotp |