(Melbourne) The ultimate legal battle between world tennis number one Novak Djokovic and the Australian government, which maintains that the Serb, not vaccinated against COVID-19, constitutes a “health risk” and intends to expel him from the country, stood before the Federal Court of Australia in Melbourne on Sunday.
Posted at 7:41 p.m.
Updated at 9:50 p.m.
The three judges of the Court had been hearing since 9:30 a.m. Sunday morning (23:30 GMT Saturday) the arguments of the representatives of the tennis player and those of the government.
Allowed to leave the detention center where he was placed on Saturday, Djokovic followed the hearing online from the offices of his lawyers. A “final” which could have long-term repercussions for the career of the 34-year-old Serb, accustomed to high-intensity matches.
On the eve of the first racket shots of the Australian Open where “Nole” hopes to win a 21and record Grand Slam title, the interim hearing must decide whether the Serb should be immediately sent home and banned from Australian territory for three years, or if on the contrary he can play in the tournament.
In his conclusions filed Saturday before the Court, the Minister of Immigration Alex Hawke maintained that the presence of Djokovic in the country “is likely to represent a health risk”.
He says it encourages “anti-vaccination sentiment” and could deter Australians from getting their booster shots as the Omicron variant spreads rapidly across the country.
“Civil Unrest”
The presence in Australia of the champion could even “lead to an upsurge in civil unrest”, added the minister.
Although he described the risk of Djokovic himself infecting Australians as “negligible”, the minister considered that his past “disregard” of health rules against COVID-19 sets a bad example.
Sunday morning before the Federal Court, the lawyers of “Djoko” described the detention of their client and his possible expulsion as “illogical”, “irrational” and “unreasonable”.
The government “doesn’t know what Mr. Djokovic’s views are right now,” lawyer Nick Wood pleaded, saying his client has never publicly supported the anti-vaccination movement.
Government lawyer Stephen Lloyd responded that the champion’s failure to be vaccinated nearly two years into the pandemic and his repeated disregard of health rules, including failing to isolate when he knew he was infected, constituted sufficient proof of his opinions.
The decision of the three Federal Court judges will be virtually impossible for both the Australian government and Djokovic to challenge.
This is the second time that the Serb has been subject to deportation proceedings.
He had been blocked on his arrival in Australia on January 5 and placed in administrative detention for the first time. The player, who contracted COVID-19 in December, had hoped for an exemption to enter the country without being vaccinated, but the authorities did not accept this explanation.
The Australian government suffered a humiliating setback on January 10 when a judge blocked Djokovic’s deportation, reinstated his visa and ordered his immediate release.
The Minister of Immigration, however, canceled his visa for the second time on Friday under his discretionary powers, citing “health and public order reasons”. And Djokovic returned to the now world-famous Park Hotel, the austere detention center for illegal aliens on Saturday.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the tennis player admitted to having incorrectly filled out his declaration of entry into Australia.
“Incompetence”
The player with 86 ATP titles, seen in Serbia and Spain in the two weeks preceding his arrival, contrary to what he declared in the immigration form upon his arrival, pleaded “human error”.
This twisty soap opera is set in a country whose people have endured some of the toughest anti-COVID-19 restrictions in the world for nearly two years, and where elections are scheduled for May.
Hence a charged political context. Pressure has intensified around Conservative Prime Minister Scott Morrison, accused of “incompetence” by the Labor opposition.
The Djokovic affair is also followed assiduously in Serbia where “Nole” is considered a national hero. On Friday, President Aleksandar Vucic accused Australia of “mistreating” him.