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The 'Djokovic case', seen for sentencing

2022-01-16T04:53:38.957Z


The court, which has already heard the lawyers of the Serbian and the Australian Government, will rule this afternoon on the possible deportation of the tennis player


Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic leaves his hotel in Melbourne, Australia, on January 16, 2021.LOREN ELLIOTT (REUTERS)

After spending eleven days in Melbourne, six of them detained and in isolation in a room at the Park Hotel, in the Carlton neighborhood, Novak Djokovic will know in the next few hours if he will have to leave Australia, a circumstance that would prevent him from defending the champion title of the Australian Open that will start this Monday and that presented him as the main claim, and perhaps also his status as number one in world tennis. In a round of interventions that began at half past nine in the morning (Melbourne time) and lasted for more than five hours, the lawyers hired by the 34-year-old Serb focused on trying to convince the court the Federal Courts that his client does not pose a threat to the community despite not being vaccinated against the coronavirus,and that it does not feed the anti-vaccination movement either. On the opposite side, the government representatives sought a way to show that it is, as Alex Hawke considered, the Immigration Minister who this Friday canceled the Balkan's visa again and motivated the lawsuit.

James Allsop, Anthony Besanko and David O'Callaghan, the three judges who presided over the hearing, retired to deliberate, but not before making it clear that they are fully aware of the importance of reaching a resolution as soon as possible, something that should be rushed this same afternoon (in the morning in Spain). "Surely there will not be time to analyze all the issues throughout the remainder of today, but we do hope to be able to get an idea about what the sign of the matter under discussion will be," Allsop agreed, before postponing the session.

Put in a car, with his face uncovered and a mask on, Djokovic left the Park Hotel at half past eight this Sunday morning, where he spent the last night escorted by two Immigration agents. Just three minutes later, the vehicle in which he was traveling entered the Rialto Tower, the building in which the contracted firm, Hall & Wilcox, is based. From there, the hearing continued, which was carried out electronically and in which the lawyers in his favor focused on trying to prove that Hawke's allegations, which led to

Nole 's second arrest

, were “thoughtless and irrational”. In the words of Nicholas Wood, the lawyer who took the lead in defense of the athlete and whose initial presentation lasted for almost two hours, there was "no evidence that the presence of Mr. Djokovic causes an effect of inciting non-vaccination, something that can be given as a response to the cancellation of his visa”.

As in the first trial, Stephen Lloyd was the representative chosen by the Australian authorities who spoke at the hearing, followed through the network by more than 71,000 viewers at times. Lloyd focused on highlighting Djokovic's express desire not to be vaccinated and his role as a public figure, to justify this hypothetical influence that he could have on the population, especially in that sector that still doubts whether or not to administer immunization. or those who are thinking of injecting the booster dose. In this sense, it is worth noting that the Morrison government, which faces general elections in May, has promoted a very aggressive mass vaccination policy in recent months,which has led to 78% of Australian citizens having received the full guideline.

“The applicant [Djokovic] was able to get vaccinated long before he knew of his contagion, in mid-December. The fact of not having done it reflects his will in an evident way. For this reason, the minister considers that his stay in Australia can motivate others to want to follow his example, a circumstance that would pose a clear risk to society”, explained the jurist, who also referred to the interview granted by Djokovic to the newspaper

L' Equipe

, on December 18, the day after receiving the result of the PCR test that confirmed his contagion. "Despite being aware of having tested positive, he went ahead with the commitment, and even took off his mask at the time the photo was taken," added Lloyd.

The two opposing parties agreed on Saturday, during the previous one, that the conflict would be resolved by a court and not a single judge, at the cost of the verdict not contemplating the possibility of presenting any appeal, so that the matter is seen for a sentence unappealable.

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Source: elparis

All sports articles on 2022-01-16

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