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Wednesday, Aug 01, 2007
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Russo: ‘secret information’ of Kevin Andrews is old news

Parvathi Menon

‘The information has been in the public arena for over two-and-a-half weeks’

Bangalore: The “secret information” that Australian Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews released on Tuesday of chat room conversations between Mohammad Haneef and his brother is nothing new, Peter Russo, Dr. Haneef’s lawyer told The Hindu. Mr. Andrews has claimed that the conversations provided evidence of Dr. Haneef’s prior knowledge of the botched Glasgow terror plot.

“It has been confirmed to me that an ABC journalist has confirmed from the notes of her bail hearing that Mr. Andrews’ so-called secret information was conveyed to the magistrate at the bail hearing. Therefore, his secret information has been in the public arena for more than two-and-a-half weeks,” he said on Tuesday.

In the chat room conversation, Dr. Haneef’s brother is supposed to have told him to leave the country urgently. Mr. Andrews said that Dr. Haneef had not applied for permission to leave the Gold Coast Hospital until after he received two phone calls in which he was told that there was a problem with his SIM card.

“There is nothing in the chat room conversation that is damaging. In fact, he was questioned on this in the second interview with the police, and he answered all the questions,” said Mr. Russo, who as Dr. Haneef’s lawyer, was present during the questioning.

Asked why the Australian Minister was pulling this information out of the hat so late in the day, Mr. Russo said that it was “a bit distressing that Mr. Andrews would try to do this”.

“A stupid gaffe” is how a legal source involved with the Dr. Haneef case in Australia described Mr. Andrews’ statement.

“For two weeks he says he can’t give the information [that supported his decision to revoke Dr. Haneef’s visa] because it is secret. Then for three days he says he wants to give it, he is trying to give it, he may give us a little bit. And then he releases it and it turns out to be information that the crown prosecutor had weeks ago,” he told The Hindu.

Priority

Dr. Haneef’s legal team’s priority now is to get his business visa restored, said Mr. Russo.

“I believe we have a strong case,” he said. The issue of compensation from the Australian Government for damage caused to Dr. Haneef’s career prospects and reputation was not immediately on the agenda and would only come up later, he said.

Contribution

“India has given the world great cricketers and great doctors,” said Mr. Russo.

“Indian doctors have made a great contribution to Australian society. Australia’s reputation on the world stage is tarnished by our Minister who says things like ‘better safe than sorry’,” he said [a reference to how the Australian Government treated Dr. Haneef as a terror suspect].

Dr. Haneef’s legal team is not taking up the case of Mohammed Asif Ali, the other Indian doctor who worked with Dr. Haneef, and who was suspended by the Gold Coast Hospital for allegedly falsifying information in his resume.

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