As if being detained without charge for the past 11 days in the Brisbane watch-house was not bad enough, Mohammed Haneef, held for his suspected links to the terror plot in Britain, now faces eviction from his apartment in Gold Coast for failing to pay the rent.
Haneef is said to have always paid his rent and kept the apartment tidy, but now his landlord Callum Spence is seeking legal advice on whether the tenant can be evicted for failure to pay rent.
In Australia rent is charged on a weekly basis. The 27-year-old registrar has been in police custody since July 2 when he was arrested at the Brisbane International Airport just before flying to India. The police have been sifting through his computer files, phone calls, bank transactions, clothing, photographs and other information gathered to determine whether he is linked to the Britain bomb plot.
Spence told The Gold Coast Bulletin, "My solicitors think there must be some breach of contract but they're waiting to see what happens with police. I'm not going to evict him because of what's happening, I'll only do it because I need the rent money. If they cut him loose then he can come back here but I don't think he'll want to stay."
Lawyers for Haneef are expected to argue on Friday for the magistrate hearing the case to step aside due to prejudice. They will challenge the police bid to detain him for another three days without charge and seek to hasten his freedom.
{{/usCountry}}Lawyers for Haneef are expected to argue on Friday for the magistrate hearing the case to step aside due to prejudice. They will challenge the police bid to detain him for another three days without charge and seek to hasten his freedom.
{{/usCountry}}Criticism is brewing from all quarters on what is seen as an abuse of the anti-terrorist powers even as Prime Minister John Howard once again defended the laws and the police argued that if Haneef was released it would make it difficult for them to monitor his movements.
Howard said, "There are all the safeguards in the world under these laws, people can't be held without the authority of a judicial officer."
According to The Australian newspaper, despite several search warrants, the police have been unable to find any evidence linking Haneef to the bombers in London and Glasgow on the basis of which they could charge him.
Meanwhile, Haneef is understood to have told the police that he had family ties and telephone contact with accused Britain suicide bomber Kafeel Ahmed and the two shared a house in Liverpool for up to two years.