The Australian government on Friday revoked Novak Djokovic’s visa for the second time, saying world tennis No. 1, unrelated to COVID-19, could pose a risk to the community.
Immigration Minister Alex Hawke used discretionary powers to revoke Djokovic’s visa after a court rejected A prior repeal and on Monday released him from immigration detention.
Hawke said, “Today I exercised my power under section 133c(3) of the Migration Act to revoke a visa held by Mr. Novak Djokovic on grounds of health and good order, on the grounds that it is in the public interest to do so. I was in,” Hawke said. a statement.
The cancellation means that Djokovic will be barred from a new Australian visa for three years, except in certain circumstances.
Earlier, Australia vowed to “rigorously” enforce its COVID-19 vaccine limit rules.
The Serbian world number one practiced at the Australian Open court in the morning for his attempt to clinch a 10th title in a tournament that begins in three days.
A win at the competition, in which she is the top seed, would have given her a record 21st Grand Slam. Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government has soon come under criticism for not deciding whether to exclude the 34-year-old tennis ace, an outspoken vaccine skeptic.
Djokovic’s legal team won the His visa on the status of his COVID-19 vaccination was canceled by Melbourne airport border control on Monday.
Since then, Hawke has threatened to use his powers to tear Djokovic’s visa a second time.
A Hawk spokesman said in the middle of the week that the decision was delayed because of “prolonged time and submissions” on the part of Djokovic’s legal team.
a report good In Australian He said Djokovic’s lawyers would challenge the revocation of his visa.
The newspaper said without citing a source that Djokovic’s legal team was “expected” to file an injunction against deportation.
‘a farce’
Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said Australia only allows foreign nationals who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or have acceptable medical exemptions.
“That policy has not changed and we will continue to strictly enforce that policy,” Birmingham told the national broadcaster. abc,
The visa battle with Djokovic is politically charged in Australia, which has endured nearly two years of some of the world’s toughest coronavirus restrictions.
General elections should be called by May.
Opposition Labor Senator Christina Keneally said it has now been 58 days since Djokovic was granted a visa to enter Australia.
“@AlexHawkeMP now needs to decide whether Djokovic stays or leaves,” he said on social media.
“The Morrison government is just incompetent. It’s a farce.”
Some tennis players say Djokovic should be allowed to play now, but not all have supported.
World number four Stefanos Tsitsipas criticized his behaviour.
“Of course he is playing by his own rules,” Tsitsipas said in an interview with the Indian broadcaster WION,
“It takes a lot of courage to do that and (is) to risk a Grand Slam […] I don’t think many players will do that.” Almost everyone was vaccinated at the Australian Open, Tsitsipas said.
But others “choose to go their own way, making the majority think they are all fools”.
‘misinformation’
Djokovic flew to Melbourne airport on January 5 and claimed exemption from the vaccine on December 16 because of the positive PCR test result.
Border agents who rejected his exemption, saying a recent infection was an insufficient justification, tore his visa and placed him in a detention centre.
Djokovic overturned Visa’s decision after border officials at the airport failed to give him an agreed-upon time to respond.
As the Omicron version races through the population of Australia, Djokovic’s actions come under more scrutiny.
The tennis ace in an Instagram post on Wednesday described reports as “misinformation” after an infection in Serbia without masks.
On the day of his claimed positive test in Serbia, he attended a ceremony to honor him with stamps bearing his image. The next day he participated in a youth tennis event. He apparently appeared in both without a mask.
‘Error of judgment’
Djokovic said he got the PCR test result only after going to a children’s tennis event on December 17.
But, he accepted that he also went ahead with an interview with the French sports daily Team on 18 December.
“Upon consideration, it was an error of judgment and I acknowledge that I should have rescheduled this commitment,” Djokovic said.
journalist who did it Team The interviewer, Frank Ramela, said that he was unaware at the time of the interview that Djokovic was COVID-positive.
The tennis star also admitted a mistake in his Australian travel announcement, ticking a box indicating he will or will not travel in the 14 days before flying to Melbourne.
Social media posts and reports suggest that he flew from Serbia to Spain during that time.
Djokovic blamed his support team for this. “My agent sincerely apologizes for the administrative mistake in ticking the wrong box,” he said.
failure to self-isolate
Leading immigration lawyer Christopher Levingston said Hawke could revoke Djokovic’s visa because the travel declaration was incorrectly completed.
Or the minister could act on character if he believes Djokovic may be flouting Australian public health orders, based on his failure to self-isolate in Serbia.
In this scenario, Djokovic would likely return to custody during a legal battle, Levingston said.
He added that the player will also have the option of being deported voluntarily.
“What they have available is what’s called a ‘common law remedy of self-help’ – which is to leave the country,” the lawyer explained.
Following a Covid-related hospitalization in Melbourne, the Victorian state government said on Thursday it would limit spectator capacity at the Australian Open to 50 per cent.
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