Australian Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews claims he never saw the confidential emails which suggest a secret plan was in place to keep then-terror suspect Mohamed Haneef behind bars, according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald. The emails showed a plan to ensure the Indian doctor would remain behind bars by having Mr Andrews revoke his visa under the Migration Act in the event of bail being granted by Brisbane magistrate Jacqui Payne on the following Monday. Haneef was exonerated three months ago and has since returned to India.
The Austrailian, a well-regarded national newspaper, picks up the trail:
The emails, obtained under Freedom of Information laws by Dr Haneef's lawyers, show that while the AFP (Australian Federal Police) was uncertain on Saturday, July 14, after an initial bail hearing whether Dr Haneef would be freed two days later by Ms Payne, the police had developed "contingencies".
The first email, written by Brisbane-based counter-terrorism co-ordinator David Craig to commanders of the AFP's counter-terrorism unit at 5.22pm on July 14, states: "Contingencies for containing Mr HANEEF and detaining him under the Migration Act, if it is the case he is granted bail on Monday, are in place as per arrangements today."
Under the Migration Act, such a contingency necessarily needed to involve Mr Andrews.
This email was forwarded at 8.10am on Monday, July 16, by agent Luke Morrish, the AFP's Canberra-based acting manager for domestic counter-terrorism, to top Immigration Department public servant Peter White.
Mr White, the department's assistant secretary responsible for character assessment and war crimes screening, gave Mr Andrews comprehensive advice on his powers and his authority to cancel Dr Haneef's visa and keep him in custody on the basis of secret evidence.
About three hours after Agent Morrish forwarded the email to Mr White on July 16, Ms Payne granted Dr Haneef bail over a terrorism-related charge.
One of the factors relied on by Ms Payne was the extraordinary weakness of the AFP's case against Dr Haneef, who had repeatedly and strenuously asserted his innocence of any connection with terrorist acts carried out in Britain in June, which were linked to his mobile phone SIM card and his second cousins, brothers Kafeel and Sabeel Ahmed. The Gold Coast Hospital registrar was kept behind bars after Mr Andrews made his controversial decision on July 16 to revoke the visa.
Defending his decision on the afternoon of July 16, Mr Andrews said: "This is unrelated to the question of proceedings in the criminal court in Brisbane. This is a direct responsibility set out in the Migration Act. This is simply a matter of me looking at the responsibilities that I have under the migration legislation, acting upon the advice and information provided to me by the Australian Federal Police, and then making a decision both in light of my responsibility and that information and advice."
"He didn't see the emails. He hasn't seen the emails. Never heard of the police officer (mentioned)," the spokeswoman for Andrews said. "There would be no reason for the minister to be seeing such (emails) because they are completely unrelated to his actual decision."
The Opposition Leader, Kevin Rudd, yesterday promised to hold a judicial inquiry into the saga if he is elected on November 24.
(Thank you to Andrew Lampert for the link to this story.)
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