Murder accused released from immigration detention a month ago

A man charged with murder in Brisbane was freed from immigration detention in April after the Administrative Appeals Tribunal decided he was “now a low risk of reoffending”, adding to the public furore over the release of more than 150 detainees in recent months.

Emmanuel Saki, 29, faced Richlands Magistrates Court last week charged with murder over the May 12 death of 22-year-old Bosco Minyurano.

Emmanuel Saki had been detained at Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Centre until his release in early April.Credit: DIAC images via Wikimedia Commons 

It is alleged Saki stabbed Minyurano, an acquaintance, at Acacia Ridge about 12.10am on Sunday, May 12.

Nine News has confirmed Saki was released from immigration detention after AAT deputy president Stephen Boyle overturned a 2019 decision to strip the Sudanese-born man of his humanitarian visa on character grounds. He had been detained at Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Centre in regional Western Australia until his release in early April.

The revelation poses a fresh headache for the Albanese government, which has been under fire since the High Court ruled that indefinite immigration detention was unlawful. The November 2023 decision led to the release of more than 150 detainees, many with serious criminal convictions, into the community.

Born in Khartoum in December 1994, Saki was 11 when he was resettled in Australia along with his father and siblings from Egypt in October 2006 after being granted global special humanitarian visas. But Saki’s visa was cancelled in October 2019 due to his failing the character test.

According to the AAT, he was in breach of the character test “by reason of having a ‘substantial criminal record’ because he had been sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 12 months or more”.

The AAT heard Saki had a history of offending dating back to 2011, in NSW, the ACT, Queensland and South Australia.

He was first jailed in July 2017 on two counts of reckless threats to kill and sentenced by the ACT Magistrates Court to eight months’ jail for each count but was released early. He was jailed again for two months in September 2018 for assault and in December 2018, he was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment for choking a person unconscious, assault occasionally actual bodily harm and assault.

In deciding to overturn the decision to revoke Saki’s humanitarian visa, Boyle said he assessed Saki’s risk of reoffending as low.

While Saki’s 2018 offences were “clearly serious”, the majority of his offences were “not particularly serious”.

“I also accept that the applicant’s risk of reoffending is low, that he now accepts responsibility for his actions and is remorseful for the harm that he has caused. I am also mindful that ... a higher level of tolerance would be shown to non-citizens who have lived in the community for most of their lives or from a very young age,” Boyle said.

Boyle said he had weighed up Saki’s links to Australia with the likely consequence of his forced return to South Sudan.

“In particular, I find that the considerations of the strength, nature and duration of the applicant’s ties to Australia, the best interests of minor children, the legal consequences of the decision and the impediments to the applicant establishing and maintaining basic living standards if he were to be returned to South Sudan, outweigh those considerations weighing against the revocation of the cancellation of the visa,” Boyle said.

“In making that comparison, I am influenced by my assessment that, while some of the applicant’s offences have been serious, he is now a low risk of reoffending.

“Accordingly, I find … the original decision should be revoked and that the discretion to revoke the cancellation of the applicant’s visa should be exercised.”

A spokesman for Immigration Minister Andrew Giles declined to comment.

“The matter is before the court. We cannot comment on individual cases,” the spokesman said.

Saki remains remanded in custody. His next appearance is in the Richlands Magistrates Court on August 19.

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.