Haneef likely to be released soon

NEW DELHI: The Indian government, which is monitoring the investigations into the Mohammed Haneef case in Australia, is confident of early release of the jailed doctor. Its expectations stem from the rethinking in the Australian government on the criminal justice certificate issued for keeping him under detention.

Reports in the Australian media too suggested that Haneef may be deported soon for containing adverse political reaction within the country over his continued detention. It also talked about demands to explain the “embarrassing errors” made by the police.

The case against Haneef has weakened after recent revelations that suggest that the SIM card he left in Britain with his cousins was not used in the failed suicide bomb attack on Glasgow airport as had been claimed earlier. The SIM card at the time of the attack was hundreds of kilometres away in Liverpool with Sabeel Ahmed, who has been charged with withholding information. The errors will be raised by Haneef’s lawyers on August 8 when they argue against the revocation of his visa.

Haneef’s lawyers have also accused the police of selectively leaking damaging allegations to make him look guilty.Meanwhile, Imran Siddiqui, a cousin of Haneef’s wife Firdous Arshiya, has arrived in Brisbane. Reports quoting Siddiqui said Haneef was a “victim of circumstances”.

There is also growing support for Haneef among the locals, with Queensland’s premier Peter Beattie describing the case against the Gold Coast doctor as “sloppy”. “Most people are starting to think: ‘Is this guy just a victim of circumstances with his relatives’. There has to be openness and transparency in this. We do not want this guy to be a political pawn. They have got to prove they acted in the national interest in this,” he had said in an interview to a newspaper.

Mohammed Haneef’s wife told reporters in Banglaore that she did not favour the deportation of her husband from Australia and wanted him to be cleared of all charges. “I maintain I don’t want him to be deported. I want him to be cleared of all the charges. He has to come out clean,” Firdous Arshiya said, reacting to reports that Australian authorities are planning to deport Haneef.