The Hindu : Front Page : Prosecution launches ‘broader review’ of Haneef case

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Thursday, Jul 26, 2007
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Prosecution launches ‘broader review’ of Haneef case

P.S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE: Australia’s Director of Public Prosecutions Damian Bugg has launched “a broader review” of the case against Indian doctor Mohammed Haneef under counter-terror laws. No timeline has been set for completion of the exercise.

The review, being undertaken in an atmosphere of public controversies over the nature and scope of the charges against Dr. Haneef, opens the way for new possibilities in the case.

Dr. Haneef has consistently denied any wrong-doing.

“Positive move”

Dr. Haneef’s lawyer Peter Russo said: “It is a positive move that the matter will be looked at. [But] I can’t make a judgment call on it. Because, obviously, the Director will have access to more material than what I have had access to,” he said.

In a statement on Wednesday, Mr. Bugg said: “There are matters which have developed as this case has progressed, which I am examining. A broader review of the available material and [of] the proceedings to date is the best way to examine these matters appropriately.”

Distancing the Government from this move, Prime Minister John Howard said: “The prosecution is a matter for the Director of Public Prosecutions and the federal police. I have been at some pains to make that point.”

Imran Siddique, a relative of Dr. Haneef, said over telephone on Wednesday that “the Wolston Correctional Centre is not where he belongs, [as] he is innocent.”

Mr. Siddique earlier met India’s High Commissioner to Australia, P.P. Shukla, in Canberra. He was accompanied by Mr. Russo.

"He has got patience"

Mr. Siddique, who visited Dr. Haneef on Tuesday, said: “After seeing me, he feels that this might get over soon.” Dr. Haneef “has got patience.”

Describing the Haneef case as “a very sensitive issue, an international issue,” he said Mr. Shukla “extended all support from the embassy.”

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