John Howard’s Legacy Lingers

The first day of Daniel Snedden’s Section 21 application was heard today in the Federal Court in Sydney. Several prominent members of the Serbian Australian community were present for the hearing.

“This case appears to be the last in the legacy of the former Howard Government’s inept and unlawful handling of citizen’s rights on Australian soil and its processing is sadly hampered by an Extradition Act that is deficient in its ability to deal with the circumstances of Daniel’s position,” the group’s spokesperson Ilija Glisic said. He went on to say that the group expects the case to be dealt with by compartmentalized legal arguments that will bear insufficient resemblance to the full context of the arguments that need to be made, yet will not be made, due to the constraints imposed by the legal process in progress.

“Where does this leave Daniel?” Mr Glisic asked. “It means that Daniel will probably remain incarcerated for an indefinite period of time pending further legal proceedings and hoping that the community will continue to support him in his predicament with funds for ongoing legal costs as the case is escalated through the various appeals mechanisms available.”

“Whilst the present Government talks publicly about human rights in China and the Convention relating to torture, it has been slow to acknowledge that we have an innocent Australian incarcerated in an Australian jail without charge and without evidence provided to support an extradition request by a foreign country, for the purposes of questioning, and that this Australian has been in jail for more than two and a half years! We have a gross injustice on our own doorstep and very few people in Government seem to care. Daniel’s life is in danger should he be extradited”

Mr Glisic continued.

Mr Glisic ended by saying “America has Guantanamo Bay as a place to mishandle prisoners and their rights, Australia has Parklea coupled with the legacy of the Howard Government. The only difference is that in Parklea we have an innocent citizen deprived of his rights to mount an appropriate defense to a contrived request for his extradition by a former military belligerent.”    

Contact for ‘Serbs for Justice’: Ilija Glisic mobile 0422 054 468