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Note: The following text is a quote:
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http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/2005/12/009422print.html

December 15, 2005

Australia: Judge back silence on cleric deport

Interesting legal development in Australia. Of course it makes sense for national security reasons: there may be others involved, ongoing investigations, etc. But there will be civil rights protests without any doubt. From AAP, with thanks to Dale:

A LEADING Muslim cleric may never find out why he is being deported after a judge today ruled ASIO does not have to disclose why it considers him a threat to Australia's security.
Iranian-born Sheikh Mansour Leghaei, 43, took action in the Federal Court to avoid deportation after the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation assessed he was "directly or indirectly a risk to Australia's security".

Mr Leghaei, who has lived in Australia since 1994, says the Federal Government failed to accord him "procedural fairness" when deciding to deport him because he was not told the grounds on which ASIO made its assessment.

The Sydney father of four asserted he had a right to know the nature of the material which led to the adverse assessment so he could challenge it.

But ASIO claims that telling Mr Leghaei could endanger national security.

Federal Court Justice Rodney Madgwick last month dismissed Mr Leghaei's application to have the assessment declared void.

In his written reasons, which he handed down today, Justice Madgwick said he accepted that national security concerns took precedence over Mr Leghaei's right to know why he faces deportation.

"In my view ... the applicant was accorded procedural fairness to the extent that the interests of national security permitted," he wrote.

" ... it appears that it was not possible to put even a summary of the case against the applicant to him without compromising the interests of national security."...

Posted at December 15, 2005 03:58 AM