An Australian court on Monday ordered the release of the number one tennis player, the Serbian Novak Djokovic, who was detained since last Thursday in the city of Melbourne after the revocation of his visa for not being vaccinated against covid-19.
Judge Anthony Kelly of the Melbourne Federal Circuit Court ordered the Australian Government to implement the release order in the next 30 minutes, give him his passport and personal effects and pay Djokovic’s legal costs.
With this decision, the possibility of playing in the Australian Open, which begins on January 17.
At the online court hearing, the judge listened to extensive legal arguments before intervening in defense of the 34-year-old tennis player.
Kelly argued that Djokovic provided evidence from “a professor and an eminently qualified doctor” on his medical exemption to enter Australia without being vaccinated against covid-19.
“What else could this man have done?” The judge questioned.
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On the other hand, the president of the Serbian Parliament, Ivica dacic, assured that he believes that the Australian authorities are preparing to deport to Djokovic.
“Obviously, the Australian authorities will choose to deport,” Dacic told Serbian broadcaster Hepi.
“In general, this procedure is shameful and must have a reaction on our part,” demanded the president of Parliament and former foreign minister, who acknowledged that Serbia has limited options to respond.
Technical problems in the transmission of the audience
The hearing was repeatedly suspended when the court’s internet fell due to the huge number of people connected.
The Serbian tennis player spent the last nights in a migrant detention center in Melbourne, where he followed his lawyers’ arguments online to get the federal court to allow him to stay in the country.
His attorneys noted that a recent contagion of covid-19 allowed the tennis player to have an exception to the severe entry requirements to Australia and that his visa was wrongly canceled.
The Czech tennis player Renata voracova She also had her visa canceled and left Australia on Saturday after being detained in the same facility where Djokovic is being held.
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The requirements to enter Australia in the pandemic
Most foreigners are barred from entering Australia, and permit holders must be fully vaccinated or receive a medical exemption.
Government lawyers rejected Djokovic’s arguments, noting that he does not meet medical criteria because his recent COVID-19 infection was not “serious.”
Djokovic assures that tested positive for coronavirus on December 16, but photos shared by the Belgrade tennis federation show him at an event for young players in that city on the 17th. The tennis player would have given trophies and prizes to the players and no one appears with a mask.
He also attended a meeting on December 16 when the Serbian postal service released a series of stamps honoring the tennis player.
(Read on: Novak Djokovic’s wife asks for ‘love and respect’ after tennis player’s problems).
Protesters and counter-protesters have spent days congregated in front of the facility where the tennis player was being held. The center became known last year when a fire forced migrants to evacuate, and maggots were reportedly found in the food.
Hours before the hearing, a banner in defense of the refugees was displayed from the roof and the police evicted a small group of protesters at the site.
Meanwhile, in a march in Belgrade, the tennis player’s mother, Dijana, assured that her son remains “in inhumane conditions.”
“They detained him and they don’t even give him breakfast, he only gets lunch and dinner,” stated the mother quoted by local media. “It doesn’t even have a window, just a wall,” he added.
His lawyers claim that the tennis player asked to go to a place where he could train, but has been ignored.
(In other news: Harold Santiago Mosquera, al Cali: the entire bag of players in the League).
(Also: Rafael Nadal is proclaimed champion of the Melbourne Summer Set).
Meanwhile, much of Australia tightens sanitary restrictions to contain an outbreak of infections caused by the omicron variant. The country is approaching 100,000 cases daily after being virus-free for much of the pandemic.
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With information from EFE and AFP
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