Australian govt halts Indian doctors release on bail
* Car bomb suspect pleads not guilty in London court
SYDNEY: The Australian government stopped an Indian doctor from being released on bail on terrorism charges linked to British car bombings by cancelling his visa on Monday and ordering him into an immigration detention centre.
Mohamed Haneef, 27, has been in custody since July 2 but was only charged on Saturday, sparking criticism by civil rights groups of his 12-day detention without charge. An Australian magistrate on Monday ordered Haneef be released on A$10,000 (US$8,700) bail, saying he had no known links to a terrorist organisation and that police were not alleging that his mobile phone SIM card had been used in relation to the British terror plot last month.
But within hours of Mondays bail ruling, Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said he had cancelled Haneefs visa and ordered him placed in Sydneys Villawood immigration detention centre. I reasonably suspect that he has or has had an association with persons engaged in criminal activity, criminal conduct, namely terrorism in the UK, Andrews told a news conference in Canberra.
Andrews said Haneef, who worked at a hospital on Australias tourist Gold Coast city, had failed a character test and he had used his powers under migration law to cancel his visa. Australias immigration laws give the minister the power to cancel or stop a visa if a person fails a character test or is reasonably suspected of being involved in criminal conduct.
Australias main opposition Labor Party supported the governments decision, but the Australian Greens said the move undermined the doctors chances of a fair trial. The government has effectively declared Dr Haneef guilty before he even gets his day in court. Immigration detention is not meant to be a jail of last resort when the government does not like a courts decision, Greens Senator Kerry Nettle said.
Haneefs wife called for the Indian government to help. The charge is baseless, Firdaus Arshiya told reporters in Bangalore. The government has to help an Indian citizen being harassed by the Australian government. If they had to cancel his visa, why didnt they do it when they charged him on Friday. Somehow they want to detain my husband. My husband is innocent, the world knows it. But Andrews said cancelling Haneefs visa was unrelated to whether Haneef would receive a fair trial. Haneefs case was adjourned to August 31.
Meanwhile, an Indian doctor suspected over the recent failed car bombings in Britain pleaded not guilty Monday after being charged over the weekend. Sabeel Ahmed, 26, was remanded in custody until August 13, after appearing at a preliminary hearing at City of Westminster Magistrates court on charges of withholding information on terrorism.
Ahmed was among eight suspects arrested in Britain and Australia over the failed attacks in London and Glasgow at the end of last month, three of whom have so have been released and three charged. agencies
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