After spending eleven days in Melbourne, six of them detained and in isolation in a room at the Park Hotel, in the Carlton neighborhood, Novak Djokovic will have to leave Australia in the next few hours, a circumstance that will prevent him from defending the Open champion title that will start this Monday and that presented him as the main claim. According to Scott Morrison, the prime minister, the decision is due to reasons of health and public interest. “The decision has been taken for reasons of health, security and maintenance of order, on the basis that it was in the public interest.” Djokovic, for his part, has declared that he is disappointed with the ruling, but that he respects it and that he will collaborate with the Australian authorities for his departure from the country.
The lawyers hired by the 34-year-old Serbian failed to convince the Federal Courts that their client does not pose a threat to the community despite not being vaccinated against the coronavirus, nor does he feed the movement against the vaccination. As a consequence, the player will be deported as soon as possible. The decision, adopted unanimously by the three judges of the Court, cannot be appealed.
This is how Djokovic reacted: “I am extremely disappointed with the Court’s decision to dismiss my request for judicial review of the Minister’s decision to cancel my visa, which means that I cannot stay in Australia and participate in the Open. I respect the Court’s ruling and will cooperate with the relevant authorities regarding my departure from the country. It bothers me that the focus for the past few weeks has been on me and I hope that now we can all focus on the game and the tournament that I love. I would like to wish the players, tournament workers, staff, volunteers and supporters all the best for the tournament. Finally, I would like to thank my family, friends, team, supporters, supporters and fellow Serbs for their continued support. All of you have been a great source of strength for me.”
James Allsop, Anthony Besanko and David O’Callaghan, the three judges who presided over the hearing, agreed with the legal services of the Government of Australia, driven by the action of Alex Hawke, the Minister of Immigration, who this Friday exercised the power that he gives him his position to, in a personal capacity, re-cancel the Balkan’s visa and confine him again in the quarantine hotel where he has already spent five days; from Thursday of the previous week to Monday of this week.
It was then that Judge Anthony Kelly released him in the first instance. Kelly then concluded that Djokovic did not have enough time to defend, before the agents who stopped him on his landing, the validity of the medical exemption issued by the Australian Tennis Federation and that, on paper, it should allow him to get through the 14 days. mandatory quarantine for any foreigner who wants to enter the country without having previously received the complete vaccination schedule.
Nole’s release provoked the immediate reaction of the administration led by Scott Morrison, the prime minister, who activated all the mechanisms at his disposal to launch a second deportation that will finally take place. The two opposing parties agreed on Saturday, during the previous one, that the conflict would be resolved by a court and not a single judge, at the cost of the verdict not contemplating the possibility of presenting any appeal.
In a brief intervention of less than five minutes, Allsop, who was in charge of chairing the table, announced the dismissal of the appeal filed against the withdrawal of the visa carried out by Hawke. “It is not part of the function of the court to decide on the merits or substance of the decision [tomada por Hawke]. For this reason, the amendment will be dismissed”, he limited himself to saying, while summoning all those interested to wait “for some time”, before being able to access a detail of the conclusions.
“I welcome the unanimous position of the Federal Court, which upheld my decision to exercise power under the Immigration Act and cancel Mr. Djokovic’s visa, in the public interest,” Hawke congratulated. “Australian Border Forces have kept us safe during times of the pandemic, and that has led to one of the lowest death rates on record, the strongest economic recoveries and the highest vaccination rates. of the world”, deepened the minister.
Put in a car with his face uncovered but the mask on, Djokovic left the Park Hotel at half past eight in the morning (Melbourne time), where he spent the last night, escorted by two policemen. Just three minutes later, the vehicle in which he was traveling entered the Rialto Tower, the building in which the contracted firm, Hall & Wilcox, is based. From there, he monitored an event that began at half past nine and lasted until past half past two in the afternoon, with a one-hour break for lunch; which was carried out electronically and in which his lawyers focused on trying to prove that Hawke’s allegations, which led to his second arrest, were “thoughtless and irrational”.
In the words of Nicholas Wood, the lawyer who took the lead in defense of the world tennis number one and whose initial presentation lasted for almost two hours, there was “no evidence that the presence of Mr. Djokovic causes an effect of incitement to non-vaccination, something that can occur in response to the cancellation of your visa¨.
As in the first trial, Stephen Lloyd was the government representative who spoke at the hearing, followed through the network by more than 71,000 viewers at times. Lloyd focused on highlighting Djokovic’s express desire not to be vaccinated and his role as a public figure, in order to justify this hypothetical influence that he could have on the population, especially in that sector that still doubts whether or not to administer the immunization. , or those who are not convinced to inject the booster dose. Morrison’s government, which faces general elections in May, has promoted a very aggressive mass vaccination policy in recent months, which has led to 78% of Australian citizens having already received the complete guideline, a figure which happens to be 92.5% among those over 16 years of age.
¨The applicant (Djokovic) was able to get vaccinated long before he learned of his infection, in mid-December. The fact of not having done it reflects his will in an evident way. For this reason, the minister considers that his stay in Australia can motivate others to want to follow his example, a circumstance that would pose a clear risk to society¨, explained the jurist, who also referred to the interview granted by Djokovic to the newspaper L´Equipe, on December 18 in Belgrade, the day after receiving the result of the PCR test that confirmed his infection. “Despite being aware that he had tested positive, he went ahead with the engagement, even removing his mask at the time the photo was taken,” Lloyd added. In addition to this circumstance, Djokovic lied in his entry statement in Australia: he answered “no” to the question of whether he had traveled in the 14 days prior to his arrival, on Wednesday, January 5, when in fact he had been in Belgrade so much as in Marbella.
After the interventions of each other, the court postponed the hearing with the hope of being able to offer a final verdict during the afternoon. The decision that will mean the expulsion of Djokovic from Australia came at a quarter to six (Australian time, 7:45 a.m. Spanish peninsular time), almost two hours after the organization of the tournament -which the Serbian has won nine times- scheduled him for the Monday night his first round match, against Miomir Kecmanovic. That meeting will not be played. The ATP has announced that Djokovic’s place in the Open draw will be taken by Italian Salvatore Caruso, ranked 150th in the world rankings.
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