Posted on 01/12/2022 6:12:48 PM PST by nickcarraway
Novak Djokovic could face up to a year in prison in a worst case scenario if he is found by Australian border forces to have provided false information on a travel declaration form he submitted as part of his entry to the country.
The Serbian admitted on Wednesday that he submitted inaccurate information on the form, which he says was filled in by his agent on his behalf before entering Australia.
Djokovic confirmed on the form that he had not travelled or would not travel in the 14 days prior to his flight to Australia on January 4. Social media posts have since emerged placing him in Belgrade on December 25 and then in southern Spain on December 31.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
But a lot of people are claiming he's done nothing at all seriously wrong. Pointing out the potential penalties is an indication that these are considered serious crimes under Australian law. Perjury, especially.
(Note - I am not saying he committed perjury. But he definitely said something in court, that he has since said was not the case).
That a nation’s sovereignty and border security is more important than PR.
I think plenty of people who committed non-violent crimes should be in jail. But I still think violent crimes are worse.
Do you know in the United States thousands and thousands of laws are added to the books every year. If every one of these non-violents crimes were prosecuted, hardly anyone wouldn't be incarcerated.
Do you think you shouldn't be incarcerated now? I've seen presentations by attorneys. Almost all of us could be in prison multiple times, if all these laws were follow.
Also, the difference between you and me is I think someone should have to be found guilty in a court of law before they are imprisoned, not just sent there on the whim of a bureaucrat.
As far as Djokovic, he may well have committed a crime. But I would like to see it proven in a court of law, not just decided by some government hacks who have already proven they weren't acting in good faith. For what it's worth, he often acts like a jerk.
They should fine him. But I think they’d look a lot better if they fined him, restricted him, let him play, and then take their taxes out of his winnings.
No one is taking away Australia’s sovereignty. They’ve proven they don’t even have to stand by their own word. Djokovic is not invading Australia.
Its a stupid law. Not being able to move freely 14 days before going to Australia? You would fit well in China
That is an attack on our fundamental sovereignty. A minor one, admittedly, but it's pissing a hell of a lot of people off.
We decide who comes here and on what terms.
John Howard was praised to the high heavens by American conservatives - including many on this site - when he took that stand nearly twenty years ago.
But apparently, now American conservatives have decided such things are totally unimportant.
Its an idiotic law.
He could have travelled widely in those fourteen days.
He's just supposed to answer the question honestly, so he can be asked where he was. Some countries are low risk of both crime and disease. Others aren't.
Even if it is an idiotic law - it’s still the law. There are lots of laws I’d like to disobey - it doesn’t mean I can without consequences.
The Australian Open should have relocated its Open tournament to an Open country..
A part of me would love to see Australia jail the sport’s top player.
Something tells me Wimbledon and the US Open would not appreciate the lack of the sport’s top player for 5 years..
But hey, the sport needs to die sometime.
First of all, people can say whatever they want, so what.
Secondly, I don't think he had broken any of the country's laws until this form thing. I'm still not sure he has, but he may have. A lot of people, though, fill out forms wrongly, but maybe he did this on purpose.
Of course, Australians decide who comes in to their country. But personally, I think this whole stand has been silly. It's not personal against Australians, I'd say the same thing if the U.S. were doing it. Athletes who come to compete in a country aren't looking to live there.
I just don't believe tennis players who haven't been vaccinated right now are a threat to any country, especially as they could dictate his behavior.
But Australia can do what it wants. They could declare tomorrow no Catholics can enter the country.
Enjoy your upcoming IRS audit. Hope you didn’t make a mistake that’ll be called a lie that gets you jail time.
Of course, he is entitled to the presumption of innocence in a legal sense, so I'll be careful here. But it would normally be very easy to get a guilty verdict on the form question. It's a very simple yes/no question that actually tells you it's a serious offence to get it wrong. And claiming it was a mistake would generally not lead to any other verdict, especially in a case where it is reasonable to believe he should have known this was important.
And this is on top of the mistakes he made in assuming he had legitimate entry papers. He's already been given the benefit of the doubt on that one, because it was genuinely complex and could have been confusing. But there's a limit to how many times, you get the benefit of the doubt.
Then we have the fact that his statements in court about a fairly important issue are contradicted by a later statement he made outside the court. Is that a third mistake?
It's probably irrelevant in Australian law because there hasn't been a finding of guilt in either country, but the suggestions that he evaded Spanish border controls, and that he broke Serbian law - are these mistakes as well?
Or are they part of a pattern of somebody who just doesn't believe rules should apply to him, and he can ignore them whenever he likes?
I don't know what the Minister is going to do (and I do have 'contacts' in the government and I have tried to get the scoop without success this time - and, yes, that's pushing rules myself) but I do know that all of this makes it much more likely, he will deport.
I don't want Djokovic deported - but it'd be a lot easier for me to support that if I wasn't so worried about the fact that people think the border security stuff isn't important. I'm beginning to think we need to demonstrate to the world that we do still take it seriously.
Whenever our border security has been seen as lax, we've faced large incursions of illegal immigrants arriving by boat on our northwestern shores. As well as the problems that causes us, hundreds of people die trying to do that when it happens. This is the primary reason why Australia takes this so seriously. We have some of the strongest border laws in the world. Deliberately. To send a message we need to send.
We cannot afford people to think those laws are weak.
Actually - that's about the only thing that we couldn't constitutionally do. Just about the only right clearly and unambiguously described in the Constitution is freedom of religion.
(This was because the writers of the constitution felt all other rights were adequately protected by English Common Law, but England had an established Church so Common Law gave no freedom of religion protection. So they pretty much copied part of the US First Amendment.)
So, we'll put him in prison and...uhh...keep him here.🤔
why don’t the other players who got MEDICAL EXEMPTIONS similar to Djokovic’s out themselves?
why doesn’t Tennis Australia now out them, given that Djokovic is taking all the heat?
The Australian Open looks like a ground ball to second,and not a Grand Slam right now..
This could be an opportunity for China to pretend its free and open and welcoming athletes around the world.
While the best player in one sport could be jailed in Australia.
13 Jan: Reuters: Australian open tennis draw delayed until further notice
The Australian Open draw has been postponed until further notice, organisers said on Thursday, amid uncertainty over Novak Djokovic’s participation in the tournament.
The draw was to start at 3 p.m. local time (0400 GMT), but after a short delay, a tournament staffer told reporters outsde the media conference room it would not go ahead.
Australian Immigration Minister Alex Hawke is weighing exercising discretionary powers to revoke Djokovic’s visa, which could scuttle the Serbian superstar’s bid for a record 21st major tennis title and 10th at Melbourne Park. (Reporting by John Mair Editing by Shri Navaratnam)...
https://news.trust.org/item/20220113041458-pkqd8
plenty of Australians will cheer this on too:
VIDEO: 1m19s: 13 Jan: Daily Mail: Astonishing moment FIVE Aussie police arrest woman after she ‘refused to show her vaccine passport’ as she shrieks: ‘Don’t arrest me’
Woman dramatically arrested at cafe in Hervey Bay, Queensland on Wednesday
She refused to show police officers her proof of vaccination after attending cafe
Footage shows five officers forcing the woman into the back of a police car
Owners say their behaviour was excessive and that it left staff emotional
Police say she repeatedly refused to comply before her arrest
By SAM MCPHEE
A middle aged woman has been dramatically arrested by five police at a popular cafe after refusing to show her vaccination certificate.
Footage shows the moment police arrived at the Dayman General Store in Queensland’s Hervey Bay - before a woman was seen rushing out past officers.
The video then shows the large squad of officers arresting the 46-year-old out the front of the store as she shrieked ‘you can’t arrest me’.
She was bundled into the back of the police car, taken to the watchhouse, charged and fined $1,300...
The cafe’s owner Matt told Daily Mail Australia the business has been fully compliant with state and federal laws around check-ins and vaccinations.
He said that it was the first time the woman, named Rebecca, had visited their establishment.
‘It was her first time coming here, and first time she’s been out since December 17,’ he said.
‘She thought “bugger it, I’m going to have a coffee today”, and look what happened.’
‘People can go to food courts and sit side by side, we thought if we opened our garden area, it’d be OK,’ the cafe owner said.
‘We did a video saying we welcome all of the community, a few days later, on Christmas Eve, three police arrived in their paddy wagon saying we were providing false information and that unvaccinated people can’t even sit in the garden.
Queensland Health told Daily Mail Australia that because the garden is attached to the venue, all patrons must be vaccinated, as they must also be in food courts.
‘Restricted businesses have a higher risk of transmission, where there are people at higher risk if they contract COVID-19, or settings where contact tracing can be difficult,’ a spokeswoman said.
‘Businesses cannot apply for an exemption to the mandate. Individuals can apply for an exemption if they cannot be vaccinated for genuine medical reasons – this applies to very few people.’
Dayman General store owners and managers had been warned by the officers that they would come back and continue checking patrons’ vaccination certificates, and if anyone was unvaccinated they would ‘face fines’.
That led to the incident on Wednesday where police arrived to check passports after receiving a complaint someone in attendance was unvaccinated.
Footage shows police walking through the venue inspecting customers’ proof of vaccines, before continuing to walk through the cafe as a woman stands and walks out.
Rebecca can be seen glancing back at police as she leaves, before police follow her out.
Matt claims he was cleaning tables outside before hearing her screams and came running around the front with his camera...
‘I came running out the front and all five police were on her. She’s got bruises all over her arm.’...
He said his staff were all very emotional over the incident and said they ‘couldn’t believe this was happening in Australia.’
Charge sheets seen by Daily Mail Australia show the woman was charged with one count of Contravene Direction or Requirement, and one count of Obstruct Police Officer.
She will face Hervey Bay Magistrates Court in March...
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10396161/Hervey-Bay-Queensland-Video-shows-FIVE-police-arresting-general-store-patron-vaccine-passport.html
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