Melbourne (AP) – In the court session in Australia in the case of the Serbian tennis professional Novak Djokovic, the judges have withdrawn from the decision-making process.
Three judges of the federal court decide whether the world number one can stay in the country and take part in the Australian Open, which begins on Monday in Melbourne, or whether he has to leave the country. The 34-year-old defending champion Djokovic had appealed after his visa was withdrawn again.
It was not immediately known when the verdict would be pronounced. Presiding judge James Allsop said the afternoon will be spent deliberating on the case and hope to reach a decision on Sunday.
Djokovic follows hearing online
The previous hearing was broadcast online. As the Australian news agency AAP reports, Djokovic followed the meeting from his lawyers’ office in Melbourne. The record winner of the Australian Open spent the night before the hearing in the federal court in a deportation hotel.
First, the lawyers of the 20-time Grand Slam tournament winner presented their line of argument. Among other things, they raised the question of whether Immigration Secretary Alex Hawke had not considered whether “anti-vaccination sentiment” would also be fueled if the tennis professional’s visa was declared invalid. The Australian government had given the reason why Hawke had again declared Djokovic’s visa invalid that the stay could promote “anti-vaccination sentiment”. The government side argued that Djokovic could be a role model for vaccine skeptics.
After starting around 9:30 a.m., the session was suspended at 12:30 p.m. for a one-hour break. It should be possible to complete the procedure at “lunchtime”, it was said at the beginning.
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