Maurice Blackburn

Clarke Inquiry finds that the AFP hid Haneef transcripts

The Australian Federal Police have been forced by the Clarke Inquiry into the Haneef affair, to disclose transcripts of interviews with Dr Haneef which they had illegally kept hidden for over a year.

Commenting on the five additional transcripts, Maurice Blackburn partner, Rod Hodgson, said:

'The transcript of the first interview at the Brisbane Airport, reveal that Dr Haneef gave AFP officers every reason to believe that there were innocent explanations for his decision to travel to India, and for having left a SIM card with his cousin, Sabeel, in the UK.

'Dr Haneef told the AFP that his wife had recently given birth to a baby; and he told them that his one way ticket had been booked by his father-in-law. He told them that he was intending to return to Australia shortly, and he told them that he had attempted to contact Tony Webster, the UK police officer, on several occasions. In subsequent interviews it was never suggested to him that any of the information he provided on those matters was incorrect.

The basis upon which the Commonwealth DPP eventually decided to discontinue its prosecution of Dr Haneef was encapsulated within that first interview.

'In the first interview, Dr Haneef was asked three times whether he wanted a lawyer, friend or relative to be present, and on each occasion he says yes, but the AFP did nothing about it.'

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