Click to play videoHours after Australian police dropped all charges against him, Mohammad Haneef – the Indian doctor detained in connection with the failed UK terror plot – told CNN-IBN he was happy the nightmare is over.
“I am positive and optimistic. I hope that everything will be over in one go,” he told CNN-IBN from Australia.
Haneef, who was detained in Australia on July 2, has been conditionally freed from custody and has to report to the Immigration department by phone everyday and in person every week.
Australia’s Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said he has made a “residential determination” for Haneef. This means that rather than being detained in immigration custody, Haneef will be released into residential detention.
"Residential detention means the place in which he is residing is that unit. That means that he has to reside at an agreed place, he's free to actually move about in the community, but as a matter of legal principle he is still formally in detention,” he was quoted by news agencies as saying.
Earlier in the day, the Commonwealth prosecutors withdrew the charge of Haneef supporting a terrorist organisation in Brisbane, following a review of the case by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions Damian Bugg.
Haneef was charged with "recklessly" supporting a terrorist group.
Andrews also informed mediapersons that while Haneef's visa had not been detained, the Gold Coast-based doctor will not be moved to a detention centre.
"That means that he has to reside at an agreed place, it means he's free to actually move about in the community," he said.
The decision to revoke Haneef's visa is also under consideration, said Andrews.
(With agency inputs)
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