Tennis star Novak Djokovic tries to allow his entry to Australia in court. In Melbourne, at the beginning of the hearing, the judge gave a comment suggesting a tendency.
The Australian judge Anthony Kelly made a comment during the negotiation about the denied entry for tennis star Novak Djokovic for the Australian Open, a tendency in the interests of the Serbian. Kelly interrupted the world number one attorneys on Monday (local time) and listed what steps he understood Djokovic had taken before boarding the plane to Melbourne and after being stopped by officials. He concluded his comment by asking, “What more could this man have done?”
At the time of the comment, the representatives of the Australian Ministry of the Interior had not yet commented. According to the original schedule, it should be your turn at 5:00 a.m.CET. Due to technical problems with the public livestream for the hearing, everything started more than half an hour late. Djokovic is said to be following the hearing from his accommodation.
First the lawyer speaks
At the hearing, his lawyer Nicholas Wood first set out the circumstances under which the tennis player boarded the plane in Dubai that took him to Australia. Djokovic submitted the required forms in accordance with the specifications. “He did everything that was required of him to enter Australia.”
Wood explained to Judge Anthony Kelly that the law does not require attendees to provide evidence of a medical contraindication, but Djokovic has volunteered to do so. This should show that medical treatment could have caused problems.
Border guards revoked visa on arrival
The judge then read the transcript of a conversation Djokovic allegedly had with officials at Melbourne Airport. In it he said he had to ask his employees, they could bring documents. It is therefore unclear when which documents were presented to the Australian authorities.
The 34-year-old world number one, who had repeatedly criticized corona vaccinations, landed in Melbourne on Wednesday evening after he said he had received an exemption from the organizers of the Australian Open for entry without proof of vaccination. However, the Australian border guards did not recognize this and withdrew his visa.
Lawyers cite PCR testing as evidence
Djokovic’s lawyers want to have the cancellation withdrawn. They argue that Djokovic’s application for a waiver was approved by two independent medical bodies. They cited a positive corona test of the Serbian player on December 16 as the reason for the approval. They criticized the fact that Djokovic was largely isolated for eight hours after arriving at Melbourne airport and was held without contact with his lawyers.
Djokovic has been housed in the “Park Hotel” since Thursday, a controversial facility in which the authorities also detain migrants threatened with deportation. According to Djokovic’s lawyers, all requests to move him to another facility have failed. According to Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, the Serbian government has now made sure that he “gets gluten-free food, exercise equipment and a laptop”.
The tennis star’s lawyers are urging the court to make a quick decision. They asked the judge to decide “at the earliest possible point in time” – without waiting for his legal arguments to be worked out. This could be published later. Judge Anthony Kelly has already made it clear that the judiciary will not allow itself to be rushed.
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