Novak Djokovic will spend Saturday evening in migration confinement earlier than the world’s tennis primary seems for a courtroom administering to cease his extradition and hold alive his bid for a file 21st important title on the Australian Open.
Djokovic arrived at Melbourne’sPark Resort, the identical immigration detention resort the place he was held final week, simply earlier than 3:30 pm (0430 GMT), in line with a Reuters witness.
A couple of dozen refugee activists chanted “stop the torture… let them out” as Djokovic and Border Drive guards drove into the underground storage of the resort, which can be getting used to carry 33 asylum seekers and travellers in COVID-19 quarantine.
A person biking previous the resort shouted: “Go home, Novak!”
Will probably be a second stint in detention for Djokovic, who spent his first 4 nights in Australia in resort detention earlier than a choose freed him on Monday after discovering a call to cancel his visa on arrival had been unreasonable.
Immigration Minister Alex Hawke determined to cancel the Serbian famous person’s visa as a result of his presence might foster opposition to COVID-19 vaccination in Australia, courtroom paperwork launched after an preliminary listening to within the Federal Court docket on Saturday confirmed.
“Although I … accept that Mr Djokovic poses a negligible individual risk of transmitting COVID-19 to other persons, I nonetheless consider that his presence may be a risk to the health of the Australian community,” Hawke mentioned in a letter to Djokovic and his authorized group.
This rationalization in Djokovic’s affidavit is extra detailed than the transient assertion Hawke launched on Friday, which mentioned his determination was primarily based on “health and good order grounds”.
Justice David O’Callaghan set a listening to on Djokovic’s attraction for 9:30 a.m. on Sunday (2230 GMT on Saturday), with the query of whether or not it might be held earlier than a single choose or a full courtroom nonetheless to be decided.
Djokovic’s legal professionals mentioned on Friday they might argue deportation would solely additional fan anti-vaccine sentiment and can be as a lot a menace to dysfunction and public well being as letting him keep and exempting him from Australia’s requirement that every one guests be vaccinated.
A courtroom order on Friday evening had required the 34-year-old to give up to immigration officers for an interview on Saturday morning, earlier than he can be taken to his legal professionals’ officers for the preliminary listening to. After leaving his legal professionals, he was to be taken into immigration detention.
Border Drive and the immigration minister’s workplace didn’t instantly reply to requests for touch upon whether or not Djokovic had attended the interview.
The federal government has mentioned it might not deport Djokovic till his attraction has been heard. Djokovic desires to have the option defend his title on the Australian Open, which begins on Monday.
