The demotion of the Commonwealth Prosecutor Clive Porritt who handled the case against Indian national Dr Mohamed Haneef reeks of a public service scandal.Clive Porritt is well-respected in the legal profession in Brisbane and has now been humiliated by being stripped of his rank, benefits and higher salary.
Bureaucrats are apparently intent on laying the blame at the feet of Clive Porritt rather than those responsible in the national capital.
The only bungling in the prosecution case against Dr Haneef was by the Australian Federal Police, who provided the DPP outrageously wrong information about Dr Haneef's alleged involvement in the Glasgow terrorism strike.
Now, the Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty has gone on the record to say that he had personally warned the Commonwealth DPP Damian Bugg QC that there was insufficient evidence to charge Dr Haneef and that the legal proceedings against him were "touch and go".
This suggests that the claims in July by the Federal Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews that he had relied on secret, undisclosed information given to him at the time by the Australian Federal Police to revoke Dr Haneef's visa - after he had been granted bail by Brisbane magistrate Jacqui Payne on the trumped up charge - were completely spurious.The visa cancellation, which is still on appeal by the Commonwealth Government before the Federal Court of Australia, had the effect of keeping Dr Haneef behind bars.
The sensational disclosure now by Mick Keelty seems to prove beyond doubt that Kevin Andrews has mislead the people of Australia. There was no secret advice, there was no secret information - it was just a highly-charged political decision by the Australian Government in an election year.
Kevin Andrews owes Clive Porritt and Dr Haneef - and the people of Australia - a personal apology.
Kevin Andrews owes Clive Porritt and Dr Haneef - and the people of Australia - a personal apology.
