BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | Australia terror hearing on hold 14/07/2009 13:56

Australia terror hearing on hold

A court hearing into a request by Australian police to extend the detention of an Indian
doctor has been adjourned until Friday.

Dr Mohammed Haneef has already spent nine days in police custody without charge, after he was
picked up over suspected UK bomb attempts.

Australian police are seeking more time to hold Dr Haneef while they continue their investigations.

Civil liberties groups complain that he is being held in a legal limbo.

Dr Haneef's case is the first to be practically applied under controversial anti-terror laws that came in
to force in 2004, the BBC's Nick Bryant in Brisbane says.

Under the new laws, Australian police are allowed to question him for 24 hours - but this can be
spread out over an unspecified period of time. So far, they have questioned him for only 12 hours.

The questioning can be interspersed with what is being called "dead time" - a kind of legal time-out
which allows police, subject to magistrate's approval, to keep a person in detention without charge
or questioning while they continue their inquiries.

Australian police have asked for an extra five days of "dead time", citing the complexity of this case.

Wednesday's court hearing was adjourned by magistrates after much of the day's proceedings were
consumed with legal argument, Dr Haneef's lawyer Peter Russo said.

Raids

Dr Haneef was picked up at Brisbane airport on 2 July after a tip-off from British police.

He was reportedly carrying a one-way ticket to India, although his family insist he was travelling
home to see his wife and newborn daughter.

Australian police have carried out a number of raids relating to the arrest, including a search of Dr
Haneef's home and place of work on Queensland's Gold Coast.

More than 200 officers are now involved, and one of their most pressing tasks is to sift through more
than 30,000 computer files.

The inquiry is linked to the suspected attempted car bombings in central London and Glasgow at the
end of last month.

Dr Haneef is one of eight people who have been detained over the alleged attacks. The others - all
linked to the medical profession - were picked up in the UK.

One man, 27-year-old Iraqi doctor Bilal Abdullah, has been charged in the UK courts over the
incidents.

Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6290500.stm

Published: 2007/07/11 14:41:04 GMT

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