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Journalism of Courage
Australian Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews has refuted the Federal Police Chief’s claim that he had relayed his reservations regarding the weak evidence against Indian doctor Mohammed Haneef, who was tried on terrorism charges.
AFP Commissioner Mick Keelty’s concerns about the weakness of the case “were not relayed” to Andrews, who subsequently lost a Federal Court case brought by Haneef for the reinstatement of his cancelled visa, Andrews’ spokeswoman was quoted as saying by The Australian newspaper on Thursday.
Andrews had purportedly relied on secret information from Keelty to cancel Haneef’s visa and order his incarceration until the case collapsed amid disclosures of the lack of evidence and bungling by police and prosecutors.
Hours after Keelty had claimed to have personally told the then commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions Damian Bugg QC of his “serious doubts” about the strength of the evidence against Haneef, it emerged he had expressed no such reservations to Andrews, the report said.
Keelty claimed he expressed this to the DPP, adding: “I was as surprised as anybody when the DPP advised that Dr Haneef could be charged, because I didn’t think the evidence was strong enough.”
The new admissions by Keelty have infuriated Haneef’s legal team.
“I don’t know how he (Keelty) gets hired but it leaves some real questions about a person in his position,” Haneef’s solicitor, Peter Russo said, adding, “He should really come clean and give a proper explanation.”
