DAn objection by the Serbian tennis professional Novak Djokovic against his refused entry to Australia was granted. That was decided by a court in Melbourne on Monday. What consequences this will have for the defending champion’s participation in the Australian Open, which starts in a week, is still unclear.
Judge Anthony Kelly read out an agreement between Djokovic’s attorneys and the Australian government that reversed the cancellation of his visa and ordered the government to bear all costs incurred by the circumstances. In addition, Djokovic must be released from his deportation hotel immediately, including his passport.
However, this agreement was made due to a formal error – Djokovic had been taken into custody too early and legally he still had just under an hour to react to the cancellation of his visa.
The Australian Immigration Minister Alex Hawke can now, if he wants, order a new, formally correct cancellation of the visa. In this case, Djokovic is not allowed to enter Australia for three years. Djokovic could also appeal against it, then the parties end up in court again.
According to reports from Australian media, Djokovic had already left the deportation hotel in Melbourne for the duration of the court hearing on his appeal. Judge Anthony Kelly allowed this on Monday (local time), it said. He should be brought to a location chosen by his lawyers.
According to the BBC, one of Djokovic’s lawyers, Nick Wood, stated that there was no explicit law in Australia after not being allowed to enter the country without a corona vaccination. Judge Anthony Kelly agreed to this.
Wood went on to say that Djokovic had provided the border guards at the airport with extensive documentation for his medical exemption and that he had cooperated. The judge also agreed to this, said BBC reporters.
Novak Djokovic during his entry attempt on January 5th at the airport in Melbourne
What: AP
With a comment, Judge Anthony Kelly had previously shown a slight partisanship in the interests of the Serbs. Kelly interrupted the lawyers and listed what steps Djokovic had taken, according to his understanding, before he got on the plane to Melbourne and after he was stopped there by the officers. Kelly concluded his comment by asking, “What more could this man have done?”
During the hearing, Judge Kelly also stated that Djokovic was stuck at 4 a.m. with no opportunity to contact his lawyers or the Australian Tennis Association. Djokovic was “incommunicado”, that is, isolated and inaccessible.
His lawyers also affirmed that the conditions at the airport and the cooperation with the border guards were “unfair” and “intolerable”.
Government Attorney
However, a decision by the court in favor of the Serbs did not guarantee him participation in the tournament. The government had already announced that it could withdraw Djokovic’s visa again if a judgment was made in his favor. In court, Christopher Tran, who represents the Australian government as a lawyer, explained their point of view.
He rejected the allegations of Djokovic’s lawyers that the tennis star was treated unfairly and disproportionately strictly. The allegations that the law and immigration regulations have been interpreted differently towards Djokovic are also wrong.
The judge replied that this description was not necessarily correct and referred to the hours that Djokovic had set at night by the border guards.
Tran emphasized that Djokovic’s Covid infection did not qualify him for a special permit. According to reports from the Australian media, Tran announced before a lunch break that he would be able to use some older decisions to justify why the refusal of entry was legal and not excessive.
The 34-year-old world number one, who had repeatedly criticized corona vaccinations, landed in Melbourne on Wednesday evening after he said he had received an exemption from the organizers of the Australian Open for entry without proof of vaccination. However, the Australian border guards did not recognize this and withdrew his visa.
Lawyers argue with a positive corona test – photos raise questions
Djokovic’s lawyers want to have the cancellation withdrawn. They argue that Djokovic’s application for a waiver was approved by two independent medical bodies. They cited a positive corona test of the Serbian player on December 16 as the reason for the approval. They criticized the fact that Djokovic was largely isolated for eight hours after arriving at Melbourne Airport and detained without any contact with his lawyers.
Meanwhile, new photos of Djokovic appeared at the time of his corona infection. One shows him posing without a mask for an award ceremony for the French newspaper “L’Équipe” on December 18th. Another, how he attends a basketball game in Belgrade on December 14th without a properly put on mask.
Djokovic (applauding r.) At the basketball game between Red Star and Barcelona in Belgrade
What: AP
Djokovic has been staying in the “Park Hotel” since Thursday, a controversial facility where the authorities also detain migrants threatened with deportation. According to Djokovic’s lawyers, all requests to move him to another facility failed.
According to Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, the Serbian government has now made sure that he “gets gluten-free food, exercise equipment and a laptop”.
Even before the troubles about entering Australia, the vaccination status of the Serbs was controversial. The tennis professional had long made a secret out of it and described the status as a private matter, but this has now been clarified: The court documents also show that Djokovic stated in the questioning by an officer of the Australian border guard that “not vaccinated against Covid-19” to be.
.
