Haneefs case made Australian Police a laughing stock: Senator Greens

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has become a laughing stock because of the botched manner in which it handled the case of Indian born doctor Mohammed Haneef, said Greens Senator Kerry Nettle.

Melbourne, July 23 : The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has become a laughing stock because of the botched manner in which it handled the case of Indian born doctor Mohammed Haneef, said Greens Senator Kerry Nettle.

The Australian Government is responsible for this, he said, adding that the Howard government - in election mode - has placed incredible political pressure on the AFP to tarnish Dr Haneef's reputation with leaks of information related to his case.

He said it had done this to justify the zealous application of its new hardline anti-terrorism laws to the Indian doctor.

"There was tremendous pressure on the government to make sure they got somewhere with this case after holding him for 12 days,'' news.com.au quoted Senator Nettle as saying.

In the pressure to charge Dr Haneef the AFP skipped over the facts and made so many mistakes in relation to this case, she said.

She also demanded a review of the decision to cancel Dr Haneef's visa by Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews.

Senator Nettle said the leaks of Dr Haneef's AFP record of interview and a claim that he was involved in a plan to blow up a Gold Coast building, which the AFP says is untrue, must be investigated.

The Australian reported that the federal police had written the names of UK terror suspects in Dr Haneef's diary, only to then ask the 27-year-old hospital registrar during an interview if the handwriting was his.

"Are the officers involved in writing in Dr Haneef's diary still investigating the case?'' Senator Nettle asked.

The latest claims follow revelations that, contrary to evidence presented to a Brisbane court by prosecutors, Dr Haneef's mobile phone SIM card was not found in a burning car that crashed into the Glasgow Airport on June 30.

The SIM card, the smart card in mobile phones, was found in the possession of one of Dr Haneef's cousins, Sabeel Ahmed, in Liverpool, hundreds of kilometres away from the failed Glasgow bombing.

No official attempt has been made to correct the public record, despite police sources telling Fairfax they had been aware of the error for some time.

Haneef, 27, has been in custody since July 2, but was only charged on July 14, which led to global criticism of his 12-day detention without charge.

ANI