The Hindu : Front Page : “Leaks of tapes undermine case”

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Thursday, Jul 19, 2007
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“Leaks of tapes undermine case”

P. S. Suryanarayana

Fair trial possible, says Howard

— Photo: AFP

rallying for haneef: Activists hold a banner outside the Immigration Department in Sydney on Wednesday as they call for the release of Indian doctor Mohammed Haneef, who was charged in connection with the failed car bomb attack in Britain last month.

SINGAPORE: Even as Australian authorities on Wednesday declared the Brisbane-based Indian doctor, “a terror prisoner” and lodged him in a solitary cell, newspapers published the “leaked” transcript of a police detective’s interrogation of Mohammed Haneef.

The details of the “interview” appeared to undermine the Government’s case that he had committed a very serious offence. In the “interview,” Dr. Haneef came through as a professional with non-radical views about Islam and jihad. He professed his innocence too.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard condemned the leak while Stephen Keim, Haneef’s barrister, disclosed that he was behind the “leak” and argued that it was designed to checkmate the Government in its campaign of “selective leaks” to project a stronger case against his client than what evidence actually warranted.

As the battle over “leaks” raged, Mr. Howard was understood to have taken the line that a fair trial in Australia was still possible in Dr. Haneef’s case. India’s “concern” in this regard appeared to have provided a diplomatic backdrop.

Announcing the decision to shift Dr. Haneef from police custody in Brisbane Watch-House to Wolston Prison in Queensland, the State’s Minister for Police and Corrective Services, Judy Spence, said he was moved “after he failed to meet the bail conditions.” He would be “housed in a secure detention unit at Wolston, away from other prisoners,” Ms. Spence said. “He will be safely and securely managed and will be subject to an intensive management plan that sets out the details of every aspect of his daily life,” she said. His lawyers would be allowed access to him.

On the judicial track, observers present at the Federal Court quoted the judge as commenting that he would not pass the character test as set out by the Immigration Minister. In a reference to the reason cited by Mr. Andrews to annul Dr. Haneef’s work visa, the judge said he, in his profession, had been associated with people suspected of criminal conduct. At this, counsel for the Immigration Department is said to have quipped that the judge would not pass the test if he were a non-citizen.

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