NOVAK DJOKOVIC IS BACK IN AUSTRALIA AND HAS BEEN DECLARED A 'PUBLIC THREAT.'
On Saturday, Australia
held Novak Djokovic for the second time, describing him as a menace to public
order while he seeks a court judgement to prevent his deportation.
It will be Djokovic's
second detention, after he spent his first four nights in Australia in a hotel
before being released on Monday when a court ruled that a decision to cancel
his visa on arrival was arbitrary.
According to court
documents revealed during an initial hearing in the Federal Court on Saturday,
Immigration Minister Alex Hawke decided to cancel the Serbian superstar's visa
because his presence in Australia could fuel opposition to the Covid-19
immunisation.
"Although I...
believe that Mr. Djokovic poses a negligible individual risk of transmitting
COVID-19 to others," Hawke wrote to Djokovic and his legal team, "I
nonetheless feel that his presence may be a concern to the health of the
Australian population."
Djokovic's appeal will
be heard at 9:30 a.m. Sunday (2230 GMT Saturday) by Justice David O'Callaghan,
with the question of whether it will be heard by a single judge or the entire
court still to be decided.
Djokovic's attorneys
claimed on Friday that deporting him would just fuel anti-vaccine sentiment and
would be just as dangerous to public health as allowing him to stay and
avoiding Australia's mandatory vaccination obligation for all visitors.
The 34-year-old had
been ordered by a court order on Friday night to submit to immigration
officials for an interview on Saturday morning before being transported to his
lawyers' office for the preliminary hearing. He will be brought into
immigration detention after leaving his lawyers.
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