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14577
Fri, 08/01/2008 - 16:33
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Haneef's lawyers ask police to reveal case details
Melbourne, Jul 31 (PTI) - The defence team of Mohammad Haneef, who was wrongly accused of terror charges in Australia, have demanded that police should be forced to make public why it went ahead in framing terror charges against theIndian doctor ignoring the advice of the intelligence agency.
Haneef's lawyers said Australian Federal Police should reveal its clarification on the bungled case to the Clarkeinquiry investigating the matter.
The lawyers' calls came after revelation that police ignored the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation's(A.S.I.O.) advice in regard to the doctor.
Asked to comment on the demand of Haneef's lawyers, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said he would not commit to increase thepower for Clarke inquiry.
"The Clarke inquiry is still under way," he was quoted ina 'Sydney morning Herald' report.
He said "I think we should be calm, temperate and responsible and wait for the outcome of that inquiry," A.S.I.O.'s submission revealed it "consistently" advised the Howard government and its agencies it had no evidenceconnecting Haneef to a British terrorist plot.
That information was relayed in writing three days before federal police charged the doctor with recklessly supporting terrorism and five days before former immigration minister Kevin Andrews stripped Haneef of his visa on "character andnational interest grounds" that have never been explained.
The federal police have already made a submission to the inquiry, headed by retired N.S.W. Supreme Court judge John Clarke, but that document is protected from public scrutiny by a security classification that can only be removed by theagency itself.
Haneef's lawyer Rod Hodgson reiterated the need for atransparent inquiry.
"If A.S.I.O. felt and told everybody, including theA.F.P., that Haneef was not a security threat, why was Dr.
Haneef ever charged?" Hodgson said.
"One thing the Australian public needs to know is who within the A.F.P. directed the charging of Dr Haneef in the face of advice from Australia's peak intelligence agency," hesaid.
Clarke had said a high proportion of material handed in by government departments and agencies carried a securityclassification that limited the extent of their disclosure.
"Any attempt to secure declassification would confront a hurdle which I regard, practically speaking, as virtuallyinsurmountable," he said.
The removal of classifications is voluntary and herejected calls for royal commission powers to force it.
Australian Federal Police Commissioner, Mick Keelty, has declared there were grounds to treat Haneef as a securityrisk.
Now there are questions as to whether his stance wastenable.
Asked this morning why A.S.I.O. could make its submission public and the police couldn't, a federal police spokeswomansaid that was a matter for A.S.I.O.
"We are letting the inquiry run its course," she said.
Tuesday the police told a daily here that "The A.F.P. has always been aware of A.S.I.O.'s position on this issue and the A.F.P. will be providing its position on this to the Clarke inquiry and not via the media." PTI NC
Haneef's lawyers said Australian Federal Police should reveal its clarification on the bungled case to the Clarkeinquiry investigating the matter.
The lawyers' calls came after revelation that police ignored the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation's(A.S.I.O.) advice in regard to the doctor.
Asked to comment on the demand of Haneef's lawyers, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said he would not commit to increase thepower for Clarke inquiry.
"The Clarke inquiry is still under way," he was quoted ina 'Sydney morning Herald' report.
He said "I think we should be calm, temperate and responsible and wait for the outcome of that inquiry," A.S.I.O.'s submission revealed it "consistently" advised the Howard government and its agencies it had no evidenceconnecting Haneef to a British terrorist plot.
That information was relayed in writing three days before federal police charged the doctor with recklessly supporting terrorism and five days before former immigration minister Kevin Andrews stripped Haneef of his visa on "character andnational interest grounds" that have never been explained.
The federal police have already made a submission to the inquiry, headed by retired N.S.W. Supreme Court judge John Clarke, but that document is protected from public scrutiny by a security classification that can only be removed by theagency itself.
Haneef's lawyer Rod Hodgson reiterated the need for atransparent inquiry.
"If A.S.I.O. felt and told everybody, including theA.F.P., that Haneef was not a security threat, why was Dr.
Haneef ever charged?" Hodgson said.
"One thing the Australian public needs to know is who within the A.F.P. directed the charging of Dr Haneef in the face of advice from Australia's peak intelligence agency," hesaid.
Clarke had said a high proportion of material handed in by government departments and agencies carried a securityclassification that limited the extent of their disclosure.
"Any attempt to secure declassification would confront a hurdle which I regard, practically speaking, as virtuallyinsurmountable," he said.
The removal of classifications is voluntary and herejected calls for royal commission powers to force it.
Australian Federal Police Commissioner, Mick Keelty, has declared there were grounds to treat Haneef as a securityrisk.
Now there are questions as to whether his stance wastenable.
Asked this morning why A.S.I.O. could make its submission public and the police couldn't, a federal police spokeswomansaid that was a matter for A.S.I.O.
"We are letting the inquiry run its course," she said.
Tuesday the police told a daily here that "The A.F.P. has always been aware of A.S.I.O.'s position on this issue and the A.F.P. will be providing its position on this to the Clarke inquiry and not via the media." PTI NC
