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Tuesday, Jul 17, 2007
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Trial a farce: lawyer

Special Correspondent

“Australian authorities should be condemned”

Bangalore: The Australian authorities should be “strongly condemned” for the manner in which they were handling the case of Indian doctor Mohammed Haneef, Bangalore-based human rights lawyer B.T. Venkatesh has said.

Speaking to The Hindu on Monday, Mr. Venkatesh, lawyer for the family of Glasgow terror suspects Sabeel and Kafeel Ahmed, said, “His [Dr. Haneef’s] visa has been cancelled without notification, which has rendered him an illegal resident. This is against international law. He is now without a job, has been branded a terrorist, and had his house searched. Would this have happened to an Australian citizen?”

“Racially motivated”

Mr. Venkatesh called his detention despite the court granting him bail a “gross violation of human rights” that was “racially motivated.” Dr. Haneef should have been allowed to get back to work and his normal life until proven guilty.

The lawyer said Dr. Haneef was being tried “extra-territorially” under special terror laws applicable only to Australian citizens and not those with work permits.

“By extension, an Indian tourist to Australia can be tried there for a charge he faces back in India,” he pointed out, describing the trial as a “farce.”

The Indian Government and those who valued civil rights should condemn this act, which speaks badly for the Australian Government’s human rights record, said Mr. Venkatesh.

On the charges framed against Dr. Sabeel Ahmed in London, he said all documents had not been made available to his lawyer. Also, the contents and time of the e-mail he is said to have received from Kafeel on the terror plot had not been disclosed.

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