Haneef Then, Hicks Now, Shrivelled Liberties & the new Australian Labor Government.....
Dr. Haneef an Indian Muslim had been working at a hospital on the Gold Coast when his cousin (once removed and 12,000 miles away) was involved in the attack on Glasgow airport. The then conservative Federal government, looking for a fear generating issue that may produce a wedge leading up to an imminent election, swooped on Dr. Haneef on the basis that the year previously he had left his sim card with another cousin in England. This cousin and the sim were in Liverpool, nowhere near the other cousin, London or Glasgow.
Several of us made our way up into the court, to hear the Feds who had finally laid charges a couple of days before. The charges did not contain any notion of "criminal intent" only vague notions of negligence - leaving a sim card with a cousin in England where another cousin had commited an offence.
It was a weird ambience in the court - in contrast to the media hype - the security was lax and the cops didn't look like they were dealing with a hi octane security risk. The only aboriginal magistrate in Queensland had spent the weekend looking at the issues argued by the prosecution who wished to deny the defendant bail and the defense arguents. She ruled that Haneef should be granted bail on $10,000 (the prosecution wanted £100,000 once the application was granted) and should sign on three times a week (the prosecution wanted daily) as the magistrate assumed the good doctor would be returning to his work at the Gold Coast hospital. The prosecution did not appeal the bail. That afternoon the Federal Immigration minister pulled Dr. Haneef's work visa, keeping him in indefinite detention. For good measure the State Labor government put Hannef (who a magistrate thought was safe to have on the streets that morning) in maximum isolation on remand.
What was interesting was how few sections of civil society came out in defence of the rights of the Doctor and the civil liberties being denied this Muslim professional. The Indian government - no fan of Islamic militancy - were furious demanding that the civil rights of their citizen should be immediately reinstated and he be released on bail. Yet the churches, artists, activist scene and journos were quiet, the Labor Federal Opposition (now the government) supported the government's position.
As the case began to unravel, thanks to the courageous tactics of the defense lawyers and a campiagning journo in Murdoch's "The Australian" (go figure!), the Federal government reluctantly released Haneef and let him leave for India. Haneef's wife had just given birth to their child - so he was keen to reunite with his family. The government position was that Haneef was still a "security risk" and would not be allowed to return to Australia to resume work.
60 MINUTES INTERVIEW WITH HANEEF AFTER RELEASE FROM PRISON
http://ninemsn.video.msn.com/v/en-au/v.htm?f=39&g=21c70...06020
In the last few daze, the appeal/counter-appeal process has exhausted itself Dr. Haneef has been totally vindicated and the actions of the former conservative government exposed as the cheap stunt to generate pre-election fear that it was....but what of the new Labor Government that had maintained its aquience in opposition? The following article in today's Guardian examines those issues and how they are playing themselves out in terms of the continued persecution of David Hicks recently released from Guantanamo
http://www.guardian.co.uk/australia/story/0,,2240352,00....html
- 513 reads
To Sim or not to Sim
Gee Ciaron ! you certainly get around for a Brisbane boy ?
You must shop alot for frequent flyers ?
Whose standing next to you ? not an MI5 compatriot I hope ? just kidding.
As far as the evidence seemed to determine, they may have been correct to keep tabs on him. I don't agree with the orange jumpsuit thing or the way he was detained but I don't really think it was some sort of election ploy, if so it would have been bad media for the Liberals.
I would still have questions over why that man in Glasgow who was dragged from the scene of the crime, apparently injured but still alive, was announced dead in the hospital he was taken to ???????
May I suggest as a fellow Christian, that you read this epistle -1 Corinthians 11:14, please take no offence, I still dig a few of Marley's songs just not his so called Jewish politics.
"Whose standing next to you ?"
"Whose standing next to you ?"
That's my parish priest in Brisbane, he has a lot of trouble looking militant for photography.
The Parish Priest
Terry Fitz looks kind of cute in that picture. No, he does not look
at all militant. He will have to try harder. Maybe a pic of him holding
an AK47? Isn't it great that he stands beside you! He must be
proud of you.
http://labor.net.au/news/1145614605_29634.html
Re: Haneef Then, Hicks Now, Shrivelled Liberties & the new Austr
Ciaron ,
I tend to agree with the author's article in the Guardian . Nothing seem to change .I am an axpatriate living in Italy now . My wife and I escaped from Australia because we were spied on by ASIO's scumbags . Our house in Dulwich Hill (NSW ) was surrounded by spies , our phones were bugged ,we were followed everywhere and strangers were clicking the mobile phone in our face . We were also subjects of Psy-operations and gangstalking . We discovered a lot about a judge in one of the federal courts . We did a family search and we found this person with a fake family background . My wife was told in 1995 at the age of 50 years that she was adopted .
You can google " why we escaped from Australia " . It was published by Pravda . To cut the story short , 17 months after we escaped we are still the subjects of operations by the local spooks ( italian friends of ASIO ) . This despite a change of Government . The situation there is worse that you can imagine . ASIO controls anything of importance in Australia and most institutiions are Rigged .ASIO even improves the CVs of chosen people so that they can have a "brilliant career " . Australia was under little Johnny and now under Kevin a Police state .
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by Ciaron O'Reilly