Interview leak: Haneef’s lawyer gets clean chit

A legal regulatory body on Friday cleared a lawyer of Mohammed Haneef of professional misconduct charges for leaking a transcript of the Indian doctor’s police interview, saying his actions were justified under the extraordinary circumstances of the case. Stephen Keim, who successfully defended Haneef, after he was wrongly accused of terror charges by Australian authorities in connection with the failed UK car-bomb plot, was cleared of any disciplinary action by Queensland’s Legal Services Commission.

It was decided that his actions in providing The Australian newspaper with a police transcript of the interview were justified under the extraordinary circumstances of the case and that there would be no further investigation.

Keim expressed his happiness over the outcome and said “it’s good news”. “The fact that the complaint is not proceeding is an indication that there was no professional misconduct. However, I don’t want anyone describing my experience as an ordeal. The only people who experienced an ordeal were Dr Haneef and his family,” the lawyer said, after the ruling by the Commission, which has the power to initiate action that could have led him to lose his right to practise.

The Commission had received separate complaints from Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty, and a Brisbane solicitor, Russell Biddle, over Keim’s conduct.