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Australia returned Novak Djokovic to custody on Saturday (January 15th), saying the tennis star’s opposition to the vaccination could cause “civil unrest”.
After once failing to remove the 34-year-old unvaccinated country, the Conservative government of Australia is trying again.
And Djokovic is fighting for the second time, with a new court appeal scheduled for Sunday.
The case will be heard at 9:30 a.m. by a three-judge Federal Court, a format that leaves little room for appeal.
For now, the Serbian tennis player is back in an infamous immigration prison in Melbourne after a few days of freedom after his first successful court appeal.
A convoy of vehicles was seen moving from his lawyers’ offices – where he was kept under guard for most of Saturday – to the former Park Hotel building.
For millions around the world, the Serbian star is best known as an undisputed tennis champion and for his stance against vaccination.
In court files, Australia has portrayed him as a key figure for vaccination opponents and a catalyst for possible “civil unrest” that should be removed in the public interest.
Djokovic’s presence in Australia “could boost sentiment against vaccination,” argued Immigration Minister Alex Hawke, justifying his use of broad executive powers to lift the tennis player’s visa.
Not only can Djokovic encourage people to break health rules, Hawke said, but his presence could lead to “civil unrest.”
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Friday accused Australia of “mistreating” the country’s biggest star and national hero.
“If you wanted to stop Novak Djokovic from winning the 10th trophy in Melbourne, why didn’t you return it immediately, why didn’t you tell him that it was impossible to get a visa?” said Vucic on Instagram.
“Novak, we are by your side!” He added.
Djokovic has won the Australian Open nine times and hoped to defend his title next week. He hoped to win this competition, in order to become the most successful tennis player in the history of this sport with a record of 21 Grand Slam titles.
Djokovic was initially denied a visa after arriving in Melbourne on 6 January. Border authorities found he had “failed to provide adequate data” for a medical exemption, which allowed him to circumvent coronavirus rules.
There has been great public outrage in Australia as this state has had some of the strictest anti-pandemic rules.
Djokovic was detained and stayed for several hours at the airport where he passed the migration controls. He then stayed a few days in a hotel converted into a migrant center.
A few days later, a judge overturned the authorities’ decision to cancel the visa and ordered his release, saying in the ruling that border officials had ignored the procedures during Djokovic’s arrival in Australia.
But Minister Hawke on Friday again revoked Djokovic’s visa, using the powers stemming from Australia’s Migration Act.
The act allows the expulsion of anyone the minister sees as a potential threat “to the health safety or order of the Australian community”, but Djokovic can still appeal the decision.
The decision to cancel the visa comes after Djokovic spoke of allegations that he had made false statements on the travel form – stating that he had not traveled to any other country 14 days before arriving in Australia. In fact, the Serbian tennis player at that time had traveled to Spain.
He said this was a mistake made by his agent and called it a “human error”, adding that it was not intentional.
Djokovic also admitted that he met with a journalist and had a photo session after he came out positive on COVID-19./REL/
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