Pakistani asylum seeker’s visa bid rejected

A man who claimed he had been kidnapped by terrorists and would be targeted as a human rights activist has failed in his court fight to be granted asylum in Tasmania.

A PAKISTANI citizen has lost his fight to be granted asylum to live in Tasmania – with his claims he would be targeted as a human rights activist and had been kidnapped by terrorists – rejected by the courts.

The 28-year-old faced the Federal Court of Australia in Hobart this week, challenging a decision by the Minister for Immigration that was subsequently upheld by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, not to grant him a protection visa.

The man claimed he was at risk as a member of an organisation claiming to undertake human rights work, and also at risk as a minority Shia Muslim and ethnic Syed.

In his published order, Judge Grant Riethmuller said the tribunal had not formed a positive view of the credibility of the man’s claims.

The man, who was represented in court by the Tasmanian Refugee Legal Service, claimed he had been kidnapped in November 2010 before arriving in Australia on a student visa in 2012.

He said he returned to Pakistan for a trip the following year because he was homesick, even though he knew it was dangerous.

His arguments did not stack up with the tribunal, which said it doubted he actually feared for his life otherwise he would not have returned home.

It also doubted the human rights organisation the man claimed he belonged to actually existed. Lastly, the tribunal did not accept his claims he would be targeted because of his ethnicity, based on findings that Shia Muslims living in Lahore and Islamabad faced a low risk of sectarian violence.

“Due to my struggles against violations of human rights, my life is not safe. Terrorists want to kill me. They attacked me several times,” the man had told the tribunal.

“The terrorists tried to kill me and attacked me with heavy automatic weapons.

“I am dead sure that I will be assassinated if I go back to my country.”

Judge Riethmuller said he was not persuaded the tribunal had failed to deal with the man’s claims, dismissing his application for judicial review of the minister’s decision.

He ordered the man to pay the minister’s legal costs of $7464.

Woman convicted over fatal crash walks free

Friends of teenager Jayden John Pearce lashed out at the woman convicted of causing his death as she walked out of the Launceston Magistrates Court after receiving a driving ban and suspended sentence.

Magistrate Simon Brown on Tuesday found Elizabeth Anne Quill, 36, guilty of negligent driving causing death for the Christmas Day car crash in 2018.

Mr Pearce, 18, was the passenger in a car being driven by his lifelong friend Jackson Spratt as they travelled along Pipers River Rd at Lower Turners Marsh.

Magistrate Brown found Quill had failed to keep a proper lookout, with the other car visible from a reasonably significant distance away and been driving on the wrong side of the road prior to the crash.

Scenes outside of Launceston Magistrate Court and Elizabeth Anne Quill was convicted of negligent driving causing death. Picture: Rosemary Murphy

He said Mr Spratt, who was travelling in the opposition direction, had attempted to avoid the collision by slowing down and moving into the other lane of the road, while Quill had made no evasive action until just before impact.

The passenger sides of both cars collided.

Magistrate Brown said Quill’s “recall is jumbled, patchy and unhelpful” during her account in a police interview after the collision and her claim not to see the other vehicle “before it was in her face cannot be correct.”

In sentencing Magistrate Brown said it was important to send a message to drivers about the importance of constant vigilance on the road, “a lack of attention can have devastating consequences.”

Quill who had pleaded not guilty was given a three month sentence, wholly suspended for two years and disqualified from driving for two years.

Victim impact statements were read to the court including from Mr Spratt and Mr Pearce’s mother.

In his mother’s statement read to the court by prosecutor Emily Stone she spoke of the difficulties of sitting in court and listening to “what happened to my little boy.”

She said she “had nightmares about what happened” and “the pain hasn’t gone away at all.”

Outside court some friends of Mr Pearce had to be dragged away from Quill as she left the building and entered a vehicle.

Mr Pearce’s friend Nikki Weaver said justice had not been served.

“I’m not happy with the outcome today,” she said.

“Someone has died and she gets to walk free,” Ms Weaver said.