Sally Neighbour’s 4 Corners report on the AFP was a bit patchy, relying a little too much on two disgruntled former officers and, in one case, his wife, for interview fodder. However, it does provide a good, succinct summary of events leading up to the charging of Mohammed Haneef, strongly suggesting that the charges were the result of pressure from high up in the AFP. And there’s plenty on Keelty’s propensity for keeping the government of the day happy, and the Howard government’s desire for bureaucrats to stick to the party line.
But one of the most interesting bits of the whole program was on another issue entirely; there are indications that the refocusing of the AFP on national security issues has led to its ignoring other less glamorous but equally important issues. From the transcript:
JOHN BROOME, FORMER CHAIR NATIONAL CRIME AUTHORITY: The question I ask is whether we’ve done this at the expense of the AFP’s core budget, whether they’ve taken their eyes off major issues such as drug trafficking, financial crime, issues such as child sex tourism, these kinds of issues which the AFP saw as its main work four or five years ago and which apparently now is not its core business.
SALLY NEIGHBOUR: Former chairman of the National Crime Authority, John Broome, says the shift is reflected in a dramatic drop in the number of criminals charged by the AFP. Cases sent to the DPP for prosecution have fallen by half, from more than a thousand to around 500 a year.
Continue reading ‘4 Corners on the AFP’
The AFP has claimed it can’t release any part of its submission to the Clarke Inquiry, about its investigation of Mohammed Haneef, because of “ongoing trials in the UK”. Greg Barns asked in Crikey today:
Hang on, what trials? The only connection Dr Haneef had with the UK was that he gave his SIM Card to his cousin Sabeel Ahmed when he was about to leave the UK in 2006 to return to India. Sabeel’s brother Kafeel was involved in unsuccessful terror attacks in London and Glasgow in June last year, driving a Jeep Cherokee into the doors of Glasgow airport and setting himself alight. Kafeel later died from burns to 90% of his body, and Sabeel was charged and sentenced to 18 months imprisonment in April this year for refusing to disclose information about the Glasgow attack and another failed attack in London, and a month later deported to India.
The only ongoing trials from the attempted terror attacks are those of Bilal Abdullah and Mohammed Asha, who are charged with conspiracy to murder. Abdullah was arrested in the immediate aftermath of the Glasgow attack, reportedly jumping out of the burning Jeep to attack a police officer. Asha was arrested at a roadblock some time later. Both are scheduled for trial in October this year.
Continue reading ‘Bilal Abdullah, Mohammed Haneef, and Mick Keelty’
The Clarke inquiry into the Haneef affair has revealed several interesting things. Amongst them is the statement in ASIO’s unclassified submission that they participated in “whole of government” discussions of the possible threat posed by Haneef. As the statement says:
ASIO’s consistent advice to these meetings was that, based on available information, ASIO did not assess Dr Haneef as a threat to security and did not have grounds to issue an adverse security assessment. However, in the early days of the investigation, ASIO nevertheless considered that further investigation of Dr Haneef was warranted.
So even ASIO - who presumably had everything the AFP did - didn’t think Haneef was a threat. Given that, the hypothesis that the AFP has further damning, but classified, information on Haneef that justified the continued detention is looking extremely shaky.
But the most controversy, so far, has arisen due to the AFP’s refusal to release its submission to the inquiry - or even parts of it - publicly.
Continue reading ‘You’re the minister now, Bob’
I don’t believe I’ve ever contributed to the Wikipedia’s article on Mick Keelty. But I wish I’d written this version.
(From The Age, obviously written by a reporter who has no idea about Wikipedia…)
Recent comments
Lloyd Morcom, Chris (a different one), sublime cowgirl, Darin, Paul Burns, Kingsley [...]
David Irving (no relation), Pavlov's Cat, Helen, Paul Burns, hannah's dad, Benedictus [...]
Mindy, Pavlov's Cat, Lefty E, Nabakov, Lefty E, joe2 [...]
sublime cowgirl, Fine, steveh, wizofaus, grace pettigrew, wbb [...]
Paul Burns, Baraholka, Paul Burns, Adrien, joe2, Paul Burns [...]
Ambigulous, suz, Colin, un ami des beaux arts, adrian, suz [...]
Legal Eagle, Michael Sutcliffe, Mark, Tyro Rex, Adrien, Posey [...]
Bilko, Paul Burns, Dave Bath, Bilko, Nabakov, Adrien [...]
Paul Burns, Darlene, Darlene, via collins, MikeM, glen [...]
Leon, Derek, Down and Out of Sài Gòn, tigtog, Bingo Bango Boingo, Mark [...]
rosieblue, Lefty E, wankaroo, What me banal?, FDB, Eye'm A Love Man, Ooh Baby, Eye'm A Love Man [...]
RobWindt, Pappinbarra Fox, Ai! Que Dolor!, Patrick B, peter jones, Paul Burns [...]