Less than an hour and a half after the start of the trial in Melbourne, Federal Judge Anthony Kelly asked the crucial question: "What more should this man have done?" : “That is the point that upsets me a little.” At the same time, the judge referred to the medical exemption that the tennis world number one from “a professor and a highly qualified doctor and also from another, independent panel of experts, which was approved by the government of the State of Victoria was used ". Nevertheless, the border officials had revoked the star's entry visa for the Australian Open in Melbourne under harsh conditions and arrested him.
Christoph Hein
Business correspondent for South Asia / Pacific based in Singapore.
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On Monday, a court in the state capital of Victoria tried the legality of the trial.
It was not about what position Djokovic takes on the corona vaccination and how he behaved after his alleged infection.
Kelly had previously ordered that Djokovic was allowed to leave the deportation detention center in the Park Hotel for the course of the proceedings.
As long as he can stay in a place his lawyer chooses.
Border authorities are investigating another player
The Serb is no longer alone: After the forced departure of the Czech player Renata Voráčová on Saturday, whose visa, with which she had been traveling for days in Australia, was withdrawn, the Ministry of the Interior confirmed on Monday morning that the border authorities were against another player and identified an official. Both had received a medical exemption for entry without vaccination. A total of 26 special permits for entry are said to have been issued. Djokovic's lawyer Nicholas Woods emphasized at the hearing that his client had received a medical exemption from Tennis Australia and an email from the Home Office confirming that the requirements had been met thanks to a previous corona infection without vaccination.
While Judge Kelly was “upset” about the way the Australians were dealing with the Serbs at the airport, the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison denied all guilt on himself and his government. On the sidelines of a press conference in Canberra on vaccination advances in children in the face of the huge wave of omicrons, he said: “The advice the federal government gave to Tennis Australia in November was very clear. It couldn't be clearer. ”In the past few days it had become increasingly clear that the organizer of the Melbourne Open was overwhelmed with the issue of special permits given the extremely complicated entry rules.
The government went on the offensive early this morning. In her admission for the hearing, she emphasized once again that Djokovic threatened another arrest, even if he should leave the courtroom on Monday as the winner. “There is no guarantee that a non-citizen will enter Australia. Rather, there are criteria and conditions for entry and reasons for refusing or canceling a visa, ”said Interior Secretary Karen Andrews.
Judge Kelly, however, initially focused on dealing with Djokovic in Melbourne: “At 4 in the morning a person is asked to switch off their mobile phone. It has been practically inaccessible since midnight. She offers: When Australia wakes up, I can call my contact person. But what happens is something completely different. "At least at this point in time he can empathize with the situation of the tennis professional in the hands of the border guards:" Mr Djokovic is very open and says that he is sorry if he gets the facts wrong have understood. Then he wouldn't have come here in the first place, "says Kelly, summarizing the 34-year-old's attitude.
Attorney Woods calmly debated with Kelly the "total inadequacy" of the reasons for not recognizing the visa based on the medical exemption.
“Djokovic did everything he could” that early morning at Tullamarine Airport in Melbourne.
"Mr. Djokovic was never informed which paragraph he should have broken at all."
"Are we animals?"
The player's father had previously raised the mood for his son who was arrested in Melbourne: "The politicians are now saying that, even if the court has decided that he may play, they can arrest him again under their laws.
Are we animals?
What are we?
We are human beings.
This happens because we are only a small part of the world, but we are proud.
They have no respect for him, ”said Srdjan Djokovic in Belgrade.
The announced live broadcast of the proceedings via the Internet service Zoom collapsed before the judge even opened it.
Again and again there were long outages of the transmission during the hearing from 10 a.m. local time.