Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahmed on Tuesday expressed his surprise at the Australian Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews’ statement that he had some “protected information’’ regarding Dr Mohammed Haneef.
In a statement here, Ahmed said the fact that charges against Haneef were dropped establishes that the evidence was weak and would not have stood legal test in a court of law.
“Charges have been withdrawn by the Prosecutor in Australia demonstrate that evidence against Dr Haneef is very weak,’’ Ahmed said. Referring to the Australian Minister’s claim, Ahmed said, “If there had been additional convincing or persuasive evidence, it would have been sufficient to persuade the Prosecutor not to drop charges against Dr Haneef.
Andrews, in his reaction to Haneef’s interview to ABC Radio, on Monday said he had cancelled Haneef’s visa purely on character grounds and he was seeking advice as to whether he can reveal “the extra information’’ which led him to take the decision. “The reality is I have had one hand tied behind my back because this information was provided to me under the legislation by the federal police as protected information,’’ Andrews said.