The Australian Law Council has urged Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews to grant Indian doctor Mohammed Haneef a temporary visa so that he can remain in the community, pending trial on a terrorism related charge.

Council president Tim Bugg urged Mr Andrews to issue a bridging visa to prevent the Gold Coast doctor from being detained for more than a year pending his trial, a  statement said.

“In reality, he is not in detention because of the charges against him or because he has been deemed a threat to the community,” he said, adding that Mr Haneef was in detention as he no longer had a valid visa.

“The minister’s decision to cancel Mr Haneef’s visa has made him, in the words of the Migration Act, an “unlawful non-citizen in the migration zone,” the council said in the statement.

Mr Bugg observed that a bridging visa would allow Mr Haneef to remain in the community pending trial, but he could still be deported once the case was dealt with. “After hearing evidence and robust arguments from both sides, a court has already decided that Mr Haneef is neither a flight risk nor a threat to the community,” he added.

The doctor was granted bail in Brisbane Magistrate’s Court last Monday on a $10,000 surety, but ordered to be detained after Mr Andrews intervened by cancelling his temporary work skills visa.

The Indian doctor remains in isolation at Brisbane’s Wolston Correctional Centre, but could be transferred to Sydney’s Villawood Immigration Detention Centre, if the appeal fails.

He has been charged with providing support to a terrorist organisation after his SIM card was found with his second cousin Sabeel Ahmed, charged in the UK terror plot.

With his visa cancelled, Mr Haneef would in normal circumstances be deported as soon as is practicable.

But the charge means he will have to remain in Australia until his case is disposed off in court.

Wife awaits official confirmation
Bangalore, dhns:  The developments in the Haneef case may appear positive but his wife Firdaus Arshiya is not impressed by it.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, Firdaus said she is waiting for official confirmation from the Australian authorities. “The reports of deportation are only coming from the media and not from Australian authorities. These reports are inspiring and fill me with confidence but I am waiting for official confirmation,” said Firdaus.

About the Australian authorities not finding clues into the charges they had levelled on Haneef that he was conspiring a terrorist attack at Goldcost Hospital, she said, she knew her husband was innocent who never indulged in suspicious activities. Yet some official confirmation has to come into this case as well, she said.

When Firdaus was asked about her cousin Imran Siddiqui, who went to Australia to meet Haneef, she said, she hadn’t got any message from him so far.