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| IN THE KANGAROO COURT: Dr Haneef’s only crime was being related to his terror-linked cousins. But the Australian investigators behaved like a bunch of amateurs intent on sending him to jail, no matter what the evidence |
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JUSTICE AUSSIE STYLE
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It was billed as the biggest backstab in the UK: eight doctors, three of them Indian, were implicated for their attempt at bombings. But now it transpires that at least one of them was a victim of an Australian probe that went horribly wrong
By Rakesh K. Simha
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Few Australians like to be reminded of this fact but in the early days of Australia’s history you needed a criminal record to get into that country. Hundreds of thousands of criminals from Britain were shipped to this newfound colony so the kingdom could be kept clean. But these days, you don’t need to commit a crime to get into prison there. In fact, they may keep you behind bars even if you are innocent.
Mohammed Haneef, an Indian doctor who migrated to the Gold Coast from the UK, found out about the dark underbelly of Australian hospitality the hard way.
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| VOICES FROM THE WINGS |
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Lord Swaraj Paul
The NRI industrialist said Indians were the most progressive community in the UK, and their good reputation should not be allowed to be tarnished by the acts of a few. |
Manmohan Singh
The PM directed Indian diplomats stationed in Canberra and Sydney to make every efforts to make sure Haneef would be given required legal assistance. |
Gordon Brown
The UK premier has called for the creation of biometric entry visas for foreigners, and the extension of detention without charge to 56 days from 28 days currently. |
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Australian police alleged Haneef provided a mobile phone SIM card to members of the terror group behind the attempted attacks in Britain recently. But Haneef said that shortly before moving to Australia to take up a job as a hospital registrar, he had given away the card to his cousin Dr Sabeel Ahmed so he could use the remaining talk time.
In hindsight that generosity turned out to be an unfortunate act.
 Sabeel has been linked to a terror ring run by Muslim doctors who planned bombings across the UK. On June 30, his brother Dr Kafeel Ahmed (now dead from burns) drove a car laden with explosives into Glasgow airport. While Kabeel is dead, Sabeel has been charged by British police with having withheld information that could have prevented an act of terrorism.
But as the investigation progressed on two continents, it transpired that there was no case against Haneef. The Australians based their case on three findings. One, the SIM card. Two, the fact that three days before the planned attacks Haneef had a chat with Sabeel in an internet chatroom. And three, that a day after the arrests in the UK, he was about to leave the country on a one-way ticket.
But the Net chat was about the birth of Haneef’s first child, which was also the reason why he was so keen to go home. He was also planning to get visas for his family and return with them, which was the main reason for the one-way ticket.
But two weeks after his arrest, a Brisbane court ordered his release. However, the immigration minister Kevin Andrews, cancelled Haneef’s visa so his detention could continue. They would have left him to rot in jail, but for the media glare, international pressure and Haneef’s lawyers who forced the John Howard Government to back off. He was finally released on July 27, four weeks after his arrest.
Director of Public Prosecutions Damian Bugg said: “A mistake has been made. One of the prosecutors put errors of fact before the court.”
Despite such gross miscarriage of justice, the Australians won’t apologise to the doctor. “Should I lie down on the ground and ask for forgiveness?” asked immigration minister Kevin Andrews, adding that Haneef had failed a character test. ‘’I reasonably suspect that he has or has had an association with persons engaged in criminal activity, criminal conduct, namely terrorism in the UK,’’ he said. ‘’I am satisfied that the cancellation is in the national interest.’’
Howard has backed Andrews to the hilt. “It’s better to be safe than sorry,” he said. “I support Mr Andrews’ handling of the matter.”
No one in Australia’s officialdom comes out of this saga with any credit. The police and office of the DPP were incompetent; the Government shamelessly political. Yet apart from the DPP, the players are not showing the slightest contrition. Australian Federal Police chief Mick Keelty says his people have behaved “professionally”. Attorney-General Philip Ruddock claims the legal system “worked as was intended”.
Australia was not interested in whether natural justice demanded that Haneef should get his visa back. It just wanted him out of the country and out of the political debate.
In fact, Andrews said the doctor’s swift departure after his release from detention only made him look more suspicious. “If anything, that actually heightens rather than lessens my suspicion,” he said.
Haneef’s lawyer wasn’t amused. “What we can’t understand is how the Minister can cling to a view that a man who had been detained for nearly a month on charges that proved to be baseless can continue to smear his good name,” lawyer Peter Russo said. “It will make overseas people very suspicious about living and working in Australia and this negative perception will take decades to erase,” he added.
After arriving to a tumultous welcome in his hometown Bangalore, Haneef finally spoke. “I was victimised by the Australian authority and the drama played by the Australian Federal Police,” he said. And, he added with a streak of bravado, “I would like to go back and work in Australia.”
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August 2007
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