Novak Djokovic in court triumph over Australian visa cancellation

Immigration Minister Alex Hawke may cancel Novak Djokovic's visa again after the original move was overturned in court.

Novak Djokovic scored a stunning legal win over Australian authorities on Monday. Picture: Getty Images

Immigration Minister Alex Hawke was on Monday night considering cancelling tennis star Novak Djokovic's visa to enter Australia for a second time after the Federal Circuit Court overturned the original decision to block his entry because he was ­unvaccinated.

The nine-time Australian Open winner was released from immigration detention following the decision on Monday afternoon, and the commonwealth was ordered to pay his legal bills.

Scott Morrison said last week there were “no special cases’’ for entry to Australia after Djokovic was detained at Melbourne airport. Tennis Australia’s decision to grant Djokovic a medical exemption to play in next week’s Australian Open sparked national outrage, given Melbourne had suffered repeated lockdowns and many Australians struggled to return home after the international borders were closed at the start of the pandemic.

Federal Circuit Court judge Anthony Kelly’s order came after the Home Affairs Department and Djokovic’s lawyers agreed that the tennis star was not treated fairly during his eight-hour interrogation at Melbourne Airport last week. “The stakes have now risen rather than receded,” Judge Kelly said.

According to documents released by the court, Djokovic told an airport official during the ­interrogation: “I believed that I had complied with all the rules about being permitted to enter into Australia.”

Mr Hawke was on Monday night considering using his personal powers to cancel Djokovic’s visa for a second time. A spokesperson for Mr Hawke said: “Following today’s Federal Circuit and Family Court determination on a procedural ground, it remains within Immigration Minister Hawke’s discretion to consider cancelling Mr Djokovic’s visa … The minister is currently considering the matter.”

Judge Kelly said Djokovic –­ ­having already been in detention for four days – could be banned from entering Australia for three years if the minister cancelled his visa a second time. He asked for the court to be kept informed.

Immediately following the Federal Court decision, Djokovic and his entourage headed to Rod Laver Arena to train and prepare for the Australian Open.

Djokovic posted a picture of himself with his entourage on the court around midnight, and his family in Serbia confirmed he had been training.

“I’m pleased and grateful that the Judge overturned my visa cancellation. Despite all that has happened, I want to stay and try to compete @AustralianOpen,” he said in the Instagram post.

Following the decision, the tennis star’s brother Djordje Djokovic said was considering his options because he had been told he was to be rearrested.

In a Belgrade press conference beamed live across Europe, Djokovic’s family was cautious in their responses, hinting that the world no.1 had been subjected to unsavoury treatment during his five-day detention.

The family abruptly ended the press conference after half an hour of questions when queried about Djokovic’s appearances on December 17, the day after he had tested positive for Covid-19.

December 16 was a busy day for Djokovic:

In addition to purportedly getting a PCR test for Covid that came back positive, Djokovic also was part of a maskless, indoor panel discussion and attended a maskless, indoor ceremony for a stamp being made in his honor on that day. pic.twitter.com/rI9j0rsPJr

— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) January 8, 2022

Djokovic’s mother Dijana said that her son had “always fought for justice, he has done nothing wrong, he hasn’t broken any rules, but he was subject to torture and harassment – we will hear more what he had to go through – he felt he had the right to be there with the visa that he got.”

Djokovic’s father Srdjan said: “They took away all his rights as a human being, they attempted to persuade him to sign (to) revoke his visa so he could be sent back to Serbia, he refused to sign because there was no reason for it, he had done nothing to contribute to revoke his visa. They gave him no right to communicate with lawyers or team or friends to defend himself, he was alone with them for several hours, they took away his phone and I am not going to mention all that happened.”

There’s more:

On December 17th, the day *after* Djokovic’s purported positive PCR test on December 16th, Djokovic attended an award ceremony for children at the Novak Tennis Center.

Many posts from the kids there posing for pictures with him that day, again masklessly indoors. pic.twitter.com/2ecOSwA7lU

— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) January 8, 2022

Mrs Djokovic was asked in English about the prospect of Australia once again revoking the visa and deporting her son.

“I don’t want to say anything about that, they are doing whatever they need to do, but we will fight again (if that happens),’’ she said.

The family praised Judge Kelly for a “thorough and neutral and very detailed scrutiny of the case”, as well as supporters outside the hotel, whom Djokovic could not see, but could hear.

Novak Djokovic’s family, (from left) mother Dijana, father Srdjan and brother Djordje, speak to the media after his success in the Federal Court. Picture: Getty Images

Djordje said that Novak and the whole family loved Australia and that Novak just wanted to play tennis.

“Once again, Novak is an athlete, a tennis player, the best tennis player of all times, whatever he supports it is to live up to principles and ideas, he is branded in different ways but he has always supported freedom of choice, nothing else” Djordje said.

He said that the situation had been “extraordinarily difficult’’ and that it had been an emotional time trying to help Novak.

Immigration Minister Alex Hawke. Picture: AAP

“He’s with his lawyers now,” Djordje said. “He is thinking about all the options. This is a big defeat for them. They lost. They thought they could beat Novak with some technicalities.”

Senior government sources said last night Djokovic had not been rearrested.

Outside Djokovic’s lawyer’s office in Melbourne, police were forced to deploy capsicum spray to get his supporters off a car that they swarmed, believing the star tennis player was inside.

Liberal MP and Davis Cup champion John Alexander blasted the government’s consideration of recancelling Djokovic’s visa on Monday night, saying the discretionary power was meant for criminals and contagious people, not “political problems”.

“What would be the public interest the minister could potentially use to exercise his personal powers to deport our defending Australian Open tennis champion?” Mr Alexander said.

Djokovic’s court victory came as Nick Kyrgios’s Australian Open preparations were thrown into ­disarray by a positive Covid test. The Australian player revealed his diagnosis on social media, telling fans he was not experiencing any symptoms, after pulling out of the Sydney Tennis Classic.

Djokovic’s legal challenge to the cancellation of his visa turned on whether he was granted procedural fairness by Australian Border Force officials during his eight-hour interrogation and not whether he was exempt from being double vaccinated.

During the interview, Djokovic said he had been put in a “very awkward” position because he had been asked to sign the notice of his visa cancellation about 4am at Melbourne Airport. The Serbian tennis player said he felt confused and did not understand why his visa was being cancelled.

“So you’re giving me legally 20 minutes to try to provide additional information that I don’t have?” he said. “At 4 o’clock in the morning? I can’t call director of Tennis Australia. I can’t engage with anybody from the Victorian state government through Tennis Australia … you put me in a very uncomfortable position.

“I don’t know what else can I tell you.”

Djokovic said if the official could wait until 8am, he could call his team and Tennis Australia. “But right now? They’re all sleepy, I don’t know. I mean I just arrived at 1am … it just doesn’t make any sense.”

Judge Kelly said Djokovic had arrived with a medical exemption from Tennis Australia that was later approved by an independent body established by the Victorian government.

According to the court documents, Tennis Australia told Djokovic his vaccine exemption was consistent with Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation guidelines. The medical exemption said because he recorded a positive PCR test on December 16, he could enter the country unvaccinated without quarantining.

Nick Wood SC, representing Djokovic, said his client believed he had the green light to enter Australia after uploading his exemption certificate to the federal government’s travel declaration app and having received a letter saying he met the requirements for entering the country.

The Australian Travel Declaration automatically generates a response to applicants when they complete their ­declaration.