Thaindian News

Sydney , Oct 16 (ANI): The legal team representing Dr Mohamed Haneef of Indian origin, who was arrested on terror charges but subsequently released, has obtained documents under Freedom of Information laws that the Australian Federal Police (AFP) knew they had insufficient evidence to charge him for involvement in terror activities.

The documents also provide fresh detail about the AFPs suspicions on Dr Haneef and his friend Mohammed Asif Ali.

They note that pictures of car interiors, car boots and images from the scene of a recent terror attack were found on Dr Asif Alis computer. Besides, they also contained quotes from a previously undisclosed chatroom conversation in which an unnamed friend asks Dr Haneef if he has killed anyone yet - a reference his lawyers say was a joke relating to Dr Haneefs pending medical exams.

Contact details for one of the men suspected of involvement in the Glasgow airport attack, Bilal Abdullah, were found in Dr Haneef’’s email system.

Dr Haneef’’s legal team said the contact details were provided to him by his second cousin Sabeel Ahmed. There is no known evidence that the two men had any email contact, The Australian quoted them as saying.

The revelations came as former immigration minister Kevin Andrews gave evidence at the Clarke inquiry into the case, in Canberra yesterday. He emerged from the closed-door hearing unrepentant. I make no apology for having made a decision in the national interest for the benefit of the people of Australia , he said.

Dr Haneef, who had been working at the Gold Coast Hospital, was arrested on July 2 last year after police linked his phone SIM card to bungled terror attacks in London and Glasgow . The case collapsed for lack of evidence and is now the subject of a government-ordered inquiry headed by retired NSW Supreme Court judge John Clarke QC, added the paper.

Dr Haneef’’s lawyer, Rod Hodgson, said the AFP’’s assessment raised questions about why he was charged despite the fact that all involved in the case acknowledged that the case was weak.

If there was nothing more of substance between (that) document and when the charge was laid, it raises again why were the charges ever laid? What agenda was at play in motivating the decision? Hodgson told The Australian. Last night, the AFP refused to respond to any of The Australian’’s questions. (ANI)