a judge orders the release of Novak Djokovic, detained for five days in a detention center

The soap opera continues. While a hearing is currently taking place in Melbourne, to rule on the Djokovic case, a judge ordered, Monday, January 10, the release of the Serbian. For five days, the world number 1 has been detained in a detention center in Melbourne, pending a decision.

If Novak Djokovic can leave the Park Hotel, that does not mean the end of the affair, however. LThe government, via the Minister of Immigration, can in fact still order the player’s expulsion. This decision comes five days after Djokovic’s request, which had hitherto gone unheeded, to be transferred from this center, in order to be able to train before the Australian Open.

If his participation in the first Grand Slam of the season remains uncertain, there is no longer any doubt as to the non-vaccination of “Nole”. Based on a transcript of a conversation with an airport immigration officer upon arrival in Melbourne, Novak Djokovic said he was not vaccinated against Covid-19, but had contracted the virus last December, for the second time, after his contamination of June 2020.

The hearing was opened late after a computer problem caused by too many connections to attend its retransmission online. Antivaxes shared, despite a ban, the link to follow it by broadcasting it live on YouTube. The judge ultimately continued the hearing without a live public broadcast, before restricted access was granted.