MEDIA RELEASE - 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.
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