The Hindu : Front Page : No charges against Haneef yet

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Tuesday, Jul 10, 2007
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No charges against Haneef yet

P.S. Suryanarayana

He is entitled to the presumption of innocence: John Howard

“We should not jump to any conclusions or impute any guilt at this stage”
Haneef’s lawyer is understood to have been given access to his client

SINGAPORE: Australian Prime Minister John Howard said on Monday that he would “suspect, at this stage, the Federal Police do not know” whether there was sufficient evidence to lay charges against the detained Indian doctor, Mohammed Haneef, in relation to the recent terror plot in the United Kingdom.

As the police sought more time to weigh the “material” they had gathered and for further questioning, Mr. Howard said: “He [Dr. Haneef] is not, as at present, charged with any offence. He may not be charged with any offence; I do not know.”

Speaking in Sydney, Mr. Howard, however, said the Indian doctor “is being lawfully detained in connection with matters that occurred in Britain.” Nonetheless, “we should not jump to any conclusions or impute any guilt at this stage.”

Mr. Howard’s emphasis on “any offence,” was indicative that Dr. Haneef’s continued detention might be related to more than one issue — the latest terror plot in the U.K. and Australia’s moves to determine whether al-Qaeda sleeper cells were operating within its domain.

“Concerns”

With Mr. Howard having also noted that Dr. Haneef was entitled to “the presumption of innocence” in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, the focus has now shifted to Australia’s real “concerns” in this case.

Dr. Haneef’s lawyer, Peter Russo, said the police had now given him “an overview of what their concerns were.” Mr. Russo is understood to have been given access to his client, but the Australian authorities have not made public any specific details of their “concerns.”

It was reported from Brisbane that a magistrate on Monday adjourned the case relating to a police application to keep Dr. Haneef in detention for another five days. His current week-long detention was to expire by Monday night, and the reported adjournment until Wednesday has given the police some more time. There was, however, no official word on how long he might be held.

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