Mohammed Haneef is an Indian Doctor working in Australia that was suspected of somehow being involved with the 2007 Glasgow International Airport attack. The case against him has been exposed as lacking any substantive evidence whatsoever.
From The Age:
The Howard Government is planning to deport detained terror suspect Mohamed Haneef to contain the political fallout from a case that insiders fear is becoming farcical.
By withdrawing the Criminal Justice Certificate that he issued last week, Attorney-General Philip Ruddock can ensure Haneef is deported immediately.
As Haneef’s relative, Imran Siddiqui, was expected to arrive in Brisbane last night in a show of family support, several senior Government sources told The Sunday Age they were furious at the Australian Federal Police for their handling of the case and wanted to shut the issue down before it did more damage to the Government’s credibility.
“Our best option is to cancel the Criminal Justice Certificate, which was issued to keep Haneef here in Australia after we cancelled his visa, and that is my understanding of what our intentions are,” one Government source said.
“Cancel the certificate and get this guy out of Australia. The story ends there and he can become someone else’s problem.”
Mr Ruddock issued the Certificate of Justice so that Haneef’s deportation could be stayed pending judicial proceedings.
But with the federal police case surrounding Haneef collapsing after revelations that the SIM card he left in Britain was not used in the failed suicide bomb attack in Glasgow, Government strategists believe there is little point holding him in Australia.
“There is no upside proceeding with this. We keep him here, then it remains an issue every day until the election. We deport him and it’s over,” the source said.
Haneef’s SIM card was not found in the car used in the attempted bombing of Glasgow Airport, as initially claimed by the Commonwealth. It was, in fact, found in Liverpool with his cousin, Sabeel Ahmed.
“Another snafu special from commissioner plod (AFP chief) Mick Keelty,” another Government source told The Sunday Age.
“There is growing sentiment that we should cut our losses and deport him (Haneef). No one is backing away from the fact that this guy is a security risk. We are standing by the decision to cancel his visa but there is simply not enough evidence to convict him of anything.”
Mr Ruddock would only say last night that he had not ruled out cancelling Haneef’s Certificate of Justice.
A spokeswoman for AFP Commissioner Mick Keelty said that as the matter was before court, it was inappropriate for the federal police to comment. She also declined to comment on any other aspects of the case, including the incorrect information presented to the court about Haneef’s SIM card.
Prime Minister John Howard also avoided answering questions on the issue yesterday.
But questions were being asked in the Government about why Australia’s security agencies did not identify Haneef as a risk in the first place.
Human-rights lawyer Julian Burnside, QC, has criticised the conduct of senior ministers in the Haneef case as “incompatible with our democracy” as they had disregarded the presumption of innocence and sanctioned use of secret evidence.
Former Indian attorney-general and prominent international human-rights lawyer Soli J. Sorabjee said the Australian Government had overreacted. Cancelling the visa was disproportionate to the reckless behaviour of lending a SIM card.
Mr Sorabjee noted that Haneef had been able to make phone calls and speak to his wife, consular staff and lawyer and had gone to court. “But the catch” was the visa cancellation, which stopped him working and left him detained.
Haneef has been detained in Brisbane’s Wolston Correctional Centre since July 2.
When one man’s civil liberties are violated in this way under the fear mongering of ‘terrorism’ (the very thing terrorism hopes to accomplish: terror) everyone’s rights and safety is violated. This is another shameful blight against this xenophobic, scaremongering government and it is utterly outrageous.
This is not a bad spy novel — it’s real life
It’s an Orwellian country we live in now. What is weird about this little snafu, is how little traction with the red-neck public the libs now have.
That is perhaps the only heartening thing about this ordeal. The David Hicks saga seems to have repositioned the public somewhat. I hope that Labor finds its balls on this issue.