Press Releases and Announcements - 15 August 2008
Secret dossier Andrews used to cancel Dr. Haneef visa had nothing in it.
Kevin Andrews, who met with the former Prime Minister, John
Howard, on the day
Dr Haneef's visa was cancelled, always claimed that he had been
given a secret
dossier by the Australian Federal Police, which justified
cancelling Dr Haneef's visa.
Dr Haneef's lawyer, Rod Hodgson of Maurice Blackburn said that
the secret material relied on by Mr Andrews is now reported as
containing nothing incriminatory or suggestive of bad character on
the part of Dr. Haneef.
'This is consistent with Dr. Haneef's repeated statements that
he has never supported terrorism and that he regards his own work
as a professional healer as paramount.
'It is also consistent with the over 18 hours of interviews
conducted with Dr. Haneef in which the questioners, at no time,
were able to point to any evidence against Dr Haneef.
'The positions taken by ASIO; the Queensland Police Service and,
it would seem, the officers who arrested Dr. Haneef that there was
no evidence to justify any charge being brought against Dr. Haneef,
also support the view that there was never any evidence to support
a reasonable belief that Dr Haneef supported terrorist
activities.
'The revelation is also consistent with the actions of new
Immigration Minister, Chris Evans, who, having received an updated
brief from the AFP on 21 December 2007, decided that there was no
basis to re-cancel Dr. Haneef's visa.
'Furthermore, the actions of the secret dossier's author,
National Manager Counter Terrorism for the AFP, Frank Prendergast
who, on 16 July 2007, the same day the visa was cancelled,
certified to Mr. Ruddock in an application for a Criminal Justice
Certificate that there was no evidence that Dr. Haneef caused any
threat to the Australian community, is effectively the same
position as that taken by ASIO,' Mr. Hodgson said.
The revelation is damning of Mick Keelty and Mr. Andrews, who
have spent the last 13 months pretending that they have evidence
incriminating Dr. Haneef that they cannot share publicly.
'The Clarke Inquiry needs to be given statutory powers in order
to vigorously test Mr Keelty and Mr Andrew's honesty and
willingness to come clean with the Australian public.
Particularly as Mr Keelty has now spent over $8 million of
taxpayer's money, much of it after every other agency had cleared
Dr. Haneef.
'Mr. Howard's role in these events seems crucial: there were
meetings held in the former Prime Minister's office, with the
senior immigration officer who provided the cancellation brief to
Mr. Andrews, on the day the visa was cancelled. If the Prime
Minister authorised the visa's cancellation on a dossier with no
evidence, whatsoever, the inescapable conclusion must be that Dr.
Haneef was a victim of a desperate political strategy.
'Mr. Andrews, Mr. Keelty, Mr. Howard, Mr. Prendergast, Mr.
Evans, Mr. White (the DIAC assistant secretary who passed on the
brief to Mr. Andrews and was involved in the meetings in the PM's
Office) and Mr. McClelland should, immediately, confirm that the
secret dossier provided by the AFP contained no evidence against
Dr. Haneef. If any of the material is genuinely sensitive and
cannot be released, the relevance of the material to Dr. Haneef
should be confirmed. The rest of the material should be authorised
for release immediately either by Mr. Evans, Mr. Debus or Mr.
Keelty,' Mr. Hodgson said.
Media Enquiries:
For more information or to organise an
interview please contact: Meaghan Telford 0437 586
093.