Australia decided to expel Novak Djokovic, who is now attending a hearing with the same judge who had freed him

The Australian Immigration Minister, Alex Hawke, Finally made the decision to cancel Novak Djokovic’s visa, the best tennis player in the world, who may be prevented from entering that country for the next three years. The lawyers of the athlete they appealed the measure, which would find a very prompt resolution of justice: a hearing has already begun that will define the fate of the Serbian, who intends to participate in the australian open. The tournament will start this Monday and the number 1 in the ranking wants to defend the crown achieved in the last three seasons.

Hawke’s determination, which as Minister of Immigration he has the personal power to revoke the stay of a visitor, took place almost at 6:00 p.m. local time, on a Friday, so there is almost no time for there to be a final resolution of the conflict before the tournament. Ultimately, the organization of the contest can locate the debut of Djokovic (against his compatriot Miomir Kecmanovic) on Tuesday, the last day of the first round. Tonight’s Australian hearing is conducted by Judge Anthony Kelly, the same one who ordered last Monday to release the tennis player for defects in the process of rejection of Immigration upon entering the country.

Was a lot of pressure on hawke, both by the press to make the determination soon and move forward in the situation that was already wearing down Australia’s international image, as well as on the part of the political opposition to expel the tennis player, who had entered the country wielding a medical exception given his lack of vaccination against the coronavirus. The openly liberal official has published on his website a speech in which he states: “I am a great believer in the ideas that emanate from God’s grace, forgiveness, redemption and second chances.” However, Thursday’s press conference by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, the country’s political leader and friend of Hawke, had clearly hinted that the government was planning to expel the athlete.

In a first claim to justice, Djokovic had had a favorable ruling four days ago by Judge Kelly, who had ordered the Australian government to release him from the Melbourne hotel for detained immigrants where he had been located. But the lawyer who represented the Ministry of the Interior, Christopher Tran, warned at the end of the hearing that the government reserved the right to expel the athlete through Hawke’s power. That ended up happening.

But it was not the end of the judicial interdict between Djokovic and the Australian authorities, because the lawyers of number 1 of the world ranking followed the battle immediately. It is the same magistrate, Anthony Kelly, head of the Australian Federal and Family Court, who took the case. In his first decision, at the end of a hearing that, with interruptions, lasted about 7 hours, he founded the order to release the player in matters of form in the process of entering the Serbian to the country. Now you know the subject first-hand.

In the days after Kelly’s decision, it was learned that Djokovic had claimed to have had a positive result for coronavirus on December 16, but it immediately emerged that he interacted with people in the two days after that. The tennis player admitted that in a recent statement and lost support even from his own nation’s government.

And apparently public support in Australia too. A poll quoted by the newspaper Herald Sun, from Melbourne, states that prior to the news of the visa cancellation 84% of the total of those consulted wanted Djokovic deported.

“Today I executed my power under section 133C (3) of the Migration Act to cancel the visa presented by Mr. Novak Djokovic based on health and good order, based on the fact that doing so was in the public interest.

This decision follows orders from the Federal and Family Court of January 10, 2022 that eliminated a previous cancellation, due to the procedural correction.

In making this determination, I carefully considered information supplied to me by the Department of Home Affairs, the Australian Border Force and Mr. Djokovic.

The Morrison government is firmly committed to protecting Australia’s borders, particularly in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic.

I am grateful to the officials from the Department of Home Affairs and the Australian Border Force, who work every day to serve Australia’s interests in increasingly challenging operating environments. “