Press Trust of India
Bangalore / Melbourne, July 9: Indian doctor, Mohammed Haneef, held in Brisbane for a suspected link to the failed UK bomb plot is being treated unfairly, his lawyer claimed today.
Mohammed Haneef has been detained at a Brisbane watch-house since last Monday as authorities investigate whether he has any links to the failed attacks in London and at Glasgow airport, as well as to an underground network of radical Islamist doctors.
The 27-year-old was arrested as he tried to leave Brisbane on a one-way ticket to India. Under the counter-terrorism laws, Australia Federal Police officers can hold Haneef until tonight. Peter Russo claimed that his client (Haneef) was being treated unfairly and all the information on the case was not shared.
"It's difficult to work out what has actually happened because the only source of information that I have, really, is the media," the lawyer told ABC radio today.
Russo said he does not know what evidence police are planning to take to the magistrate in order to charge Haneef. "It's very unfair," he said. "The only way you can get a fair and balanced hearing is when both parties get an opportunity to view each other's material and make submissions based on the information that's before the magistrate and also the opportunity to get some instructions in relation to the allegations - if any - that are being made."
Russo warned that his client has not yet been charged for any offence. "What we're dealing with here is a person who's been detained for questioning," he said.
"The person has been detained for questioning only. It's not a person who's been charged with an offence or is about to be charged with an offence," he added.
Russo said he sees his client every day. "From when I became involved on Thursday night, I understand I've been the only contact that he's had," he said.
Haneef has not yet had contact with his wife in India either, he said.
"At this stage he hasn't, but my understanding is there was permission given some time today for him to be able to speak with his wife in India," he said. Haneef's lawyer also informed that he had finally been given material pertaining to his detention in Brisbane.
The Gold Coast Hospital registrar has been given permission to make contact with his wife in India, and this is expected to happen today.
"I was provided with some material that I had requested on Friday night," he said. "There might be some more material being made available today," he added.
Russo says his client is holding up well in the circumstances. "He's obviously made a request to me that he'd prefer to be in the community and rather than where he is," he said.
"My understanding is that he has been doing his best to answer any of the queries that the police have had."
The Gold Coast Hospital says a second doctor questioned by police over possible links to the failed British bombings has not returned to work.
The doctor was initially questioned and later released by police last week.
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