Melbourne, July 1 (IANS) Mohamed Haneef, an Indian doctor who was falsely accused of aiding terrorists, has launched defamation proceedings against a former Australian minister.
Haneef’s lawyers said they lodged the suit against former immigration minister Kevin Andrews in the Supreme Court in Brisbane Thursday, Australian news agency AAP reported.
A claim has also been made for unlawful arrest and abuse of power against the government, the report said.
‘The proceedings have been filed on behalf of Dr Haneef simply as a safeguard to protect his legal rights with regard to the time limits which apply to the various legal actions,’ Rod Hodgson, Haneef’s lawyer, said in a statement.
The 30-year-old physician, a former Gold Coast registrar, was held in Australia for three weeks in July 2007 after being charged with supporting a terrorist organisation by ‘recklessly’ giving his mobile phone SIM card to people planning bomb attacks in Britain.
Andrews was strongly criticised when he cancelled Haneef’s visa, just hours after a magistrate granted the doctor bail.
The charges against Haneef were eventually dropped and he returned to his family in Bangalore.
