Terming the new chat room conversation evidence released by Australian Immigration Minister against his client as inconsequential, Dr Haneef’s  lawyer Peter Russo on Tuesday said that it was not confidential evidence.
Mr Russo, who got Haneef freed of terrorism charges and who is now in Bangalore, said that the information revealed by Australian Minister Kevin Andrews was hardly a secret and that the Minister had just made it appear a secret.
Mr Andrews released evidence of a chat room conversation involving Haneef and his brother Mohammed Shoaib, wherein the latter told the former to leave Australia quickly. The minister had said that Haneef’s attempt to urgently depart from Australia appeared based on a false pretext, raising suspicions that he was aware of a bomb plot in the UK.
The solicitor said the chatroom conversation between Haneef and his brother in India, were covered during a police interview.  “Therefore, the Director of Public Prosecutions would have had access to that (the conversation) when they were making their judgment call (to drop all charges against Haneef). He however said he was yet to receive a transcript of that particular interview.
Meanwhile, Haneef’s relative Imran Siddiqui, who is assisting him on the issue, dismissed chat room conversation as “political posturing.” He added, “it is political posturing. Haneef had answered all these questions in the second transcript of the interrogation”.
Describing it as ‘political timing,’ he stated that the Australian minister had to come out with something to tell the public that whatever decision he is taking is something which is done right.”
He further said, “We were expecting some political move there, but those who have released it as secret information will have to understand that, tomorrow, it will be known to people that it is not secret information”.