However, lawyers for the federal government indicated that the fight may not be over, noting that Immigration Minister Alex Hawke reserved the right to exercise his personal power to revoke Djokovic’s visa again.
Around 3 am yesterday in Argentina, Judge Anthony Kelly ruled that the federal government’s decision last week to revoke the visa to enter the country was “unreasonable” and ordered the release of Djokovic.
Djokovic’s situation captured the world’s attention, creating political tensions between Belgrade and Canberra and sparking a heated debate over national vaccination mandates.
News of his release was greeted with noisy drum and dance celebrations by a group of some 50 supporters, many of them wearing the Serbian flag, outside the Melbourne courthouse.
Kelly also ordered the federal government to pay the court costs of Djokovic, who spent several days in an immigration detention hotel, noting that his lawyers argued that his “personal and professional reputation and financial interests may be directly affected.”
Argument
Kelly said he had reversed the government’s decision to cancel Djokovic’s visa because the player was not given enough time to speak with tennis organizers and lawyers to fully respond after he was notified of the intention to cancel his visa.
He also noted that those responsible for the Melbourne airport forced the player to turn off his phone from midnight until around 7.42 a.m. local time, when the decision was made to cancel his visa.
Officials also breached an agreement to give Djokovic until 8.30 a.m. to speak with the tournament’s organization, Tennis Australia, and his lawyers, the judge said.
Kelly previously told the court that it appeared that Djokovic had applied for and received the required medical exemption for covid-19 vaccination on the basis that he had contracted the virus last month. He had presented evidence of this before traveling to Melbourne. “What else could this man have done?”
Kelly’s ruling did not directly address the question of whether the exemption for having contracted the virus in the past six months was valid, something the government had questioned.
It was unclear if the ruling would affect Czech player Renata Voracova, who was detained at the same hotel as Djokovic after her visa was revoked due to problems with her immunization exemption. Voracova left the country on Friday without contesting his status, according to the Czech Foreign Ministry.
Djokovic’s case had sparked anger in Australia, where more than 90% of the adult population is doubly vaccinated and public opinion has been overwhelmingly against the player.
Tempers are especially high in Melbourne, where there has been the longest lockdown in the world.
Covid-19 cases in the country surpassed one million yesterday, and more than half of them were registered in the last week, raising the number of hospitalizations, putting supply chains to the test and overloading testing facilities.
In Belgrade, his family congratulated themselves on the decision during a press conference, believing that justice had been done with the world number 1 tennis player.
“For me, it is the biggest victory of his career, bigger than all the Grand Slams” that he has won, declared the tennis player’s mother, Dijana Djokovic.
“Justice has finally arrived, the truth has prevailed,” said Djordje, the star’s brother. “We have finally shown the whole world (…) that Novak is an honest man, an extraordinary man,” he added, noting that Djokovic had used his first hours of freedom to train.
Djokovic aspires to achieve the 21st Grand Slam title in Melbourne, breaking the tie with Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in the race for being the tennis player with the ‘greatest’ in history (the three add 20 each).
What happened “will give him additional strength,” said the tennis player’s father, Srdan Djokovic. “They don’t realize what they have done. Now he’s going to win another ten Grand Slams. It feels very good. He has such mental strength that this has not disturbed him at all, “he added.
One of the biggest rivals on Djokovic’s court, the Spanish Rafael Nadal, estimated that after the court ruling “the most fair thing” is for Djokovic to participate in the Australian Open: “Justice has spoken”, he declared on the radio station Onda Zero.
Everything indicates that Djokovic will play for now, the Australian Open. However, there are those who say that the Australian Government may end up deporting him at the beginning of the event so that he does not have time to take legal action. The story can continue.
Source From: Ambito
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