LAWFUEL – The Law Newswire – The lawyer for Mohammed Haneef, the doctor accused and then released from Australian custody on terrorism-related charges, says the Australian Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews is damaging Australian interests and using “smoke and mirrors” in his statements about his client.
Peter Russo, who accompanied Doctor Haneef to his home in Bangalore, where he received a hero’s welcome, said Andrews’ statements that his client had prior knowledge of the botched bomb plots in Britain were based on chatroom talk Haneef had with his brother in India and were covered by police interviews in Australia.
“If the Government will give us the second record of interview then we can make a judgment call on whether it should be released, so that then the public can be fully informed,” he said, adding the information covered in that interview was “hardly secret.”
He also said that Andrews’ refusal to reinstate his client’s working visa would damage Australia’s reputation and will mystify the public, he said.
