Haneef - the story so far ...

The following is my take on the tale of Mohammed Haneef so far. I think this one's going to run for a long time. So I thought it important to give this guide before events unfold further.

Mohammed is a young indian male doctor in Australia accused of "recklessly" giving "material assistance" to (suspected) "terrorists". He apparently gave his cousin (also a doctor, but in England) a simcard for his phone before leaving that country for this. Simcards from England don't work here. His cousin worked in England. Mohammed worked here in Australia. A year later, that simcard is found in the wreckage of one of the vehicles used in the recent attempted series of car bombings in Britain. There's no indication that it was used in the attempt, or at all, by the cousin.

Shortly after the attempted bombing, Mohammed was taken into custody in Brisbane, about to leave the country to visit his wife in India [the fact he hadn't bought a return trip (yet) is usually used to further damn him at this point]. He was placed incommunicado in a holding cell courtesy of Queensland Police, and his home raided. Every scrap of paper there was gathered up. Everything remotely resembling data storage (tapes, cds, computers - and no doubt phones, walkmans, mp3s of all who lived in the flat he shared with seven others (!)) was swept up to be 'analysed'. His workplace (a large hospital) was also plundered of potential 'evidence'.

Then Mohammed had to wait in custody under a continued detention order, obtained under our anti-democratic 'anti-terrorist' laws, while an eagre bunch of sergeant plods wracked their minds with possibilities revealed in the treasure trove of information they believed they'd seized in their raids.

Alas for sergeant plod, the greatest crime they could eventually put forth under the Crimes Act was recklessly providing material support to a terrorist (organisation). The act this was based on was giving the useless simcard to the cousin before leaving england for home, not knowing that cousin would allegedly be involved in failed bomb plot nearly a year later. For this, poor Mohammed faces upto 25 years maximum security imprisonment.

Under the anti-terror rubric, the presumption is against bail in 'terror' cases. No doubt sergeant plod believed poor Mohammed would safely spend about a year and a half in shackled solitary confinement (how we keep our suspected terrorists downunder) before a trial could be held under the National Security provisions for federal 'terror' trials. Perhaps they'd even find something a bit more salacious than disposing of a simcard by giving it away to a family member with which to dress up their injustice.

Surprise! Magistrate Jacqui Payne, taking special account of the facts that Mohammed didn't know what his cousin was allegedly upto, and the 'weakness' of the case generally, as constituting a 'special circumstance' that allowed her a discretion to grant bail, granted him bail!

But our lovely law abiding government had a nice little surprise up their sleeve to put the smile back on the gobsmacked prosecutor's face, and to take it off of Mohammed and his lawyers'. They have revoked his visa, leaving him in a Brisbane holding cell again while they work out whether he gets to test an immigration detention centre or a prison for his digs for the next few years.

More of Mohammed later...