Interpol drops premeditated murder charge against Sayed Abdellatif
Murder and bomb charges in Interpol's red notice against asylum seeker branded a 'convicted jihadist terrorist' officially dropped
Oliver Laughland in Sydney and Patrick Kingsley in Cairo
The Guardian Friday 14 June 2013 07.56 AEST
Sayed Abdellatif Photograph: IRNINnews
Interpol's National Central Bureau (NCB) has dropped the majority of the most severe charges against the Egyptian asylum seeker branded a "convicted jihadist terrorist" by Tony Abbott, following an investigation by Guardian Australia.
At the request of Egyptian Interpol, the charges of premeditated murder, firearm and explosives possession and destruction of property against Sayed Abdellatif have been dropped. The existence of these convictions was heavily quoted by opposition politicians, news reports and the Australian Federal Police as evidence that Sayed Abdellatif was a dangerous terrorist.
Interpol has confirmed that the "red notice" on Abdellatif's name is still in existence, but now relates to membership of an extremist group and of forging travel documents.
In a statement to the press Interpol said:
"Questions have recently been raised in relation to Mr Abdellatif's convictions as stated by Egyptian authorities in their original Red Notice application.
"In following up on the matter with NCB Cairo, the NCB asked Interpol's General Secretariat to remove the charge of premeditated murder and the other charges ...
"Interpol immediately implemented NCB Cairo's request and is advising all member countries accordingly."
The removal of the charges follows an investigation carried out by Guardian Australia in both Egypt and Australia. Guardian Australia contacted the office of the Egyptian presidency in the early hours of the morning on Friday (AEST) to seek clarity on the nature of Abdellatif's convictions, following interviews with Abdellatif's lawyers and verification of court documents that showed Abdellatif's convictions made no mention of murder or explosives possession.
After Guardian Australia's inquiry to the Egyptian presidency, as well as the presentation of court appeal documents to presidential officials, the Egyptian ministry of foreign affairs contacted Egyptian Interpol to seek clarity on Abdellatif's case – which was followed by the removal of the most serious charges.
On Wednesday, deputy commissioner Peter Drennan, who gave the original evidence at Senate estimates on 30 May when details of the red notice were first made public, said that if the charges of murder and bomb possession were incorrect he would "notify all the parties concerned of the correct contents of the red notice, certainly including Mr Abdellatif himself, and other relevant agencies. We'd also be writing formally to Interpol and Egyptian authorities expressing our concern in relation to the inaccuracy this position has placed Mr Abdellatif and ourselves in."
His comments followed revelations by Guardian Australia that Egyptian Interpol were no longer seeking Abdellatif on murder or explosives charges.
Guardian Australia has seen correspondence documenting Abdellatif's appeal on the last remaining conviction against his name, of membership of an extremist organisation. Guardian Australia understands that the appeal was lodged in March this year, with the Egyptian authorities making a decision on retrial later this month.
Ian Rintoul, a spokesman for the Refugee Action Coalition, said he welcomed the news:
"This is just a welcome first step to get justice for Sayed. We now look forward to all charges being withdrawn ..."
He added that information about the dubious nature of Abdellatif's charges had been raised by Abdellatif with the AFP months ago:
"This has raised serious questions about the conduct of the AFP. On their own statements to the Senate, the federal police said a red notice has no legal standing in Australia and is only an invitation for them to make further inquiries. Months ago, the AFP had information that the charges in the red notice were false. They not only did nothing about that, they actively put misinformation into the public arena.
"We are urging the immigration minister to immediately allow Sayed and his family to make a protection application."
He was also critical of much of the media reporting of Abdellatif's case saying:
"Despite the track record of the AFP over the Haneef case for example, even when there was evidence to the contrary, most of the media was too willing to simply accept the statements of the AFP and Coalition politicians as if they were fact."
In a statement to the press on Friday, the AFP confirmed they will be contacting Abdellatif personally and will update the relevant Australian agencies about the changes to the charges. The release also expressed frustration at the changing nature of the notice.
"... the AFP will write to the Interpol Secretary General expressing its concerns about the changing nature of this document, and the implications of these changes for Mr Latif and for the AFP. The AFP will request these concerns be formally relayed to Interpol Cairo."
They added that whilst the evidence delivered at Senate estimates on 30 May was accurate at the time, they will now advise the Senate that the red notice has now been updated.
Speaking to ABC news, shadow immigration minister Scott Morrison, who raised the issue of the "convicted jihadist terrorist" a number of times the in parliament last week, defended the Coalition's attack on government's handling of the case.
He responded to the revelations by saying: "That is information now that the government needs to take into account, but it does not excuse the government's failure to act on advice provided by ASIO and the AFP about the serious nature of the convictions that had been recorded. These matters that you're referring to have only come up in the last couple of days."
Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, the Greens spokesperson for immigration blasted the way in which the Coalition had handled the case:
"This situation should have been handled delicately, but the Coalition's relentless fear mongering against refugees made that impossible. Their eagerness to exploit this situation for their own political gain means they shot first and asked questions later, ruining any chance of a rational debate on this important issue.
"The reality is many of the people who are seeking protection around the world have fled oppressive regimes where they don't have basic rights under the law which we take for granted here in Australia.
"No one who understands the realities faced by refugees who have fled abuse and persecution at the hands of oppressive regimes would be surprised that claims made by those regimes are not always correct.
Despite repeated requests for comment, a spokesman for the Leader of the Opposition declined.
