THE lawyer representing a Melbourne man accused of aiding al-Qaeda today said he was confident the charges would be dropped because his client was denied legal representation early on.
| "Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'!" |
Solicitor Rob Stary said an interview between Joseph Thomas, also known as Jack, and Australian police in Pakistan was tainted because he was denied a lawyer and was detained and questioned under arduous conditions. Thomas, 31, was arrested during early morning raids yesterday as counter-terrorist police swooped on two Melbourne properties. "There is a real issue as to those circumstances surrounding his detention and how that impacted upon the interview that was conducted, whether, then, it could be said that his answers were voluntary," he said.
| "Yeah! I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece!" |
"It seems to me that if the charges rely on what occurred in Pakistan we would be confident that we would be successful." Mr Stary said Thomas had been interviewed by agents of the intelligence services of the United States, Australia, Pakistan and perhaps others. "By the time the final interview was conducted with him it is fair to say the whole process was tainted in my view," he said.
| "An' I'm a lawyer, so I should know!" |
"We have previously expressed our disquiet at the way he was detained. There are suggestions that he was manacled during his detention, possibly hooded and in a way that might not meet United Nations protocols on the detention of political prisoners.
| "He doesn't know if he was hooded or not. He had his eyes closed." |
Mr Stary said the question of admissibility of his statement would have to be decided by the court. "But I would be confident that it would be seen to be inadmissible in the way it was conducted," he said. "He did ask to obtain legal advice. He was aware that his family had engaged legal practitioners in Melbourne. The authorities were aware of that fact." |