Djokovic in detention as he awaits appeal : NPR
Novak Djokovic sits in the back of car arriving at an immigration detention hotel in Melbourne, Australia Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022.
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Novak Djokovic sits in the back of car arriving at an immigration detention hotel in Melbourne, Australia Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022.
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MELBOURNE, Australia — Novak Djokovic was reported to be back in immigration detention Saturday after his legal challenge to avoid being deported from Australia for being unvaccinated for COVID-19 was moved to a higher court.
A Federal Court hearing has been scheduled for Sunday, a day before the men’s No. 1-ranked tennis player and nine-time Australian Open champion was due to begin his title defense at the first Grand Slam tennis tournament of the year.
Police closed down a lane behind the building where Djokovic’s lawyers are based and two vehicles exited the building mid-afternoon local time on Saturday. In television footage, Djokovic could be seen wearing a face mask in the back of a vehicle near an immigration detention hotel.
The Australian Associated Press reported that Djokovic was back in detention. He spent four nights confined to a hotel near downtown Melbourne before being released last Monday when he won a court challenge on procedural grounds against his first visa cancellation.
Immigration Minister Alex Hawke on Friday blocked the 34-year-old Serb’s visa, which was originally revoked when he landed at a Melbourne airport on Jan. 5.
Deportation from Australia can lead to a three-year ban on returning to the country, although that may be waived, depending on the circumstances.
Djokovic has acknowledged that his travel declaration was incorrect because it failed to indicate that he had been in multiple countries over the two weeks before his arrival in Australia.
Defending men’s champion Novak Djokovic practices on Margaret Court Arena on Thursday ahead of the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne on Thursday.
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Defending men’s champion Novak Djokovic practices on Margaret Court Arena on Thursday ahead of the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne on Thursday.
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But the incorrect travel information is not why Hawke decided that deporting Djokovic was in the public interest.
His lawyers filed documents in court on Saturday that revealed Hawke had stated that “Djokovic is perceived by some as a talisman of a community of anti-vaccination sentiment.”
Australia is one of the most highly vaccinated populations in the world, with 89% of people aged 16 and older fully inoculated against COVID-19.
But the minister said that Djokovic’s presence in Australia may be a risk to the health and “good order” of the Australian public. His presence “may be counterproductive to efforts at vaccination by others in Australia,” the minister said.
The Health Department advised that Djokovic was a “low” risk of transmitting COVID-19 and a “very low” risk of transmitting the disease at the Australian Open.
The minister cited comments Djokovic made in April 2020, before a COVID-19 vaccine was available, that he was “opposed to vaccination.”
Djokovic had “previously stated he wouldn’t want to be forced by someone to take a vaccine” to compete in tournaments.
The evidence “makes it clear that he has publicly expressed anti-vaccination sentiment,” the minister wrote in his reasons for canceling Djokovic’s visa.
Djokovic’s lawyers argue that the minister had cited no evidence that Djokovic’s presence in Australia may “foster anti-vaccination sentiment.”
Djokovic will be allowed out of hotel detention on Sunday to visit his lawyers’ offices for the video court hearing.
On Saturday, Justice David O’Callaghan suggested a full bench rather than a single judge hear the case on Sunday. A full bench is three or five judges.
A full bench would mean any verdict would be less likely to be…