{"id":903,"date":"2022-01-10T16:00:27","date_gmt":"2022-01-10T16:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/djokovic-wins-australia-visa-case-judge-orders-his-release"},"modified":"2022-01-10T16:49:42","modified_gmt":"2022-01-10T16:49:42","slug":"djokovic-wins-australia-visa-case-judge-orders-his-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/djokovic-wins-australia-visa-case-judge-orders-his-release","title":{"rendered":"Djokovic wins Australia visa case, judge orders his release"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. <\/strong><\/span>World number one Novak Djokovic won a stunning victory Monday over the Australian government, overturning the cancellation of his visa on Covid-19 health grounds, and ending his detention.<\/p>\n

It was an extraordinary setback for the government, which has imposed strict restrictions on its borders for the past two years to stop the spread of the coronavirus.<\/p>\n

In an emergency online court hearing, the judge ordered that the decision to cancel Djokovic\u2019s visa \u201cbe quashed\u201d.<\/p>\n

The judge ordered that the unvaccinated tennis superstar \u201cbe released immediately and forthwith from immigration detention\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuch release must occur no later than 30 minutes after the making of this order,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Australian taxpayers will be asked to pay costs for Djokovic\u2019s high-powered legal team.<\/p>\n

\u201cNovak, Novak, Novak,\u201d chanted dozens of fans of the nine-time Australian Open champion as they marched in celebration, drums banging, outside Melbourne\u2019s federal courthouse.<\/p>\n

The 34-year-old Djokovic had arrived in Melbourne last Wednesday ahead of the Australian Open, which starts in just one week, hoping to win a record-breaking 21st Grand Slam title.<\/p>\n

But even as he savours an extraordinary win in the federal court, his tournament dream may yet be out of reach.<\/p>\n

The government\u2019s lawyer told the court that Immigration Minister Alex Hawke may decide to use his \u201cpersonal power of cancellation\u201d despite the player\u2019s legal victory.<\/p>\n

After touching down in Australia, Djokovic was taken into an overnight interview with border agents, who decided the champion had failed to present a solid medical reason for not being jabbed.<\/p>\n

Djokovic\u2019s visa was revoked and he was moved to a notorious immigration detention facility pending deportation.<\/p>\n

He spent four nights in the former Park Hotel, a five-storey facility that holds about 32 migrants trapped in Australia\u2019s hardline immigration system \u2014 some for years on end.<\/p>\n

An early plea by Djokovic to be moved to a facility where he can train for the Australian Open had fallen on deaf ears, his lawyers said.<\/p>\n

\u2018Not human conditions\u2019<\/b>
\nThe court\u2019s finding, read out in an online hearing, said the player was not given the chance to reply fully before his visa was torn up.<\/p>\n

In the early hours of Thursday, Djokovic was told he had until 8:30 am to reply to the proposed cancellation of his visa. But instead, the border agent cancelled it at 7:42 am.<\/p>\n

Had Djokovic been given until 8:30 am as first promised, \u201che could have consulted others and made submissions to the delegate about why his visa should not be cancelled,\u201d the judge said.<\/p>\n

According to a transcript of the airport interview, Djokovic told the border control agent: \u201cI just really don\u2019t understand what is the reason you don\u2019t allow me to enter your country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier, at a rally in Belgrade, Djokovic\u2019s mother Dijana claimed her son was staying \u201cin not human conditions\u201d during his four-night stay at the detention centre.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey detained him and even don\u2019t give him breakfast, he has only lunch and dinner,\u201d she said, quoted by local media.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe does not have a normal window, he stares at a wall.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though it had no bearing on his court case, Djokovic\u2019s claim of a positive test on December 16 stirred controversy after it emerged he had attended a gathering that day for the Serbian national postal service launching a stamp series in his honour.<\/p>\n

Pictures shared by the Belgrade tennis federation also showed him at a young players\u2019 event in the city on December 17.<\/p>\n

It reported that he had handed over cups and prizes to players. No one was wearing a mask.<\/p>\n

Another tennis player \u2014 Czech doubles specialist Renata Voracova \u2014 has also had her visa cancelled after obtaining a medical exemption.<\/p>\n

She flew out of Australia on Saturday after being held in the same Melbourne centre as Djokovic.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Botswana<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. World number one Novak Djokovic won a stunning victory Monday over the Australian government, overturning the cancellation of his visa on Covid-19 health grounds, and ending his detention. It was an extraordinary setback for the government, which has imposed strict restrictions on its borders for the past two years to stop the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":902,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,12,13,17,16],"tags":[233,237,234],"class_list":["post-903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-policy","category-social","category-sport","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-botswana","tag-botswana"],"yoast_head":"\nDjokovic wins Australia visa case, judge orders his release - Botswana<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"World number one Novak Djokovic won a stunning victory Monday over the Australian government, overturning the cancellati ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/djokovic-wins-australia-visa-case-judge-orders-his-release\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Djokovic wins Australia visa case, judge orders his release\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"World number one Novak Djokovic won a stunning victory Monday over the Australian government, overturning the cancellati ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/djokovic-wins-australia-visa-case-judge-orders-his-release\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Botswana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-01-10T16:00:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-01-10T16:49:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2022\/01\/img-61dc638ee506e.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1040\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"572\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/djokovic-wins-australia-visa-case-judge-orders-his-release#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/djokovic-wins-australia-visa-case-judge-orders-his-release\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Djokovic wins Australia visa case, judge orders his release\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-01-10T16:00:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-01-10T16:49:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/djokovic-wins-australia-visa-case-judge-orders-his-release\"},\"wordCount\":650,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/djokovic-wins-australia-visa-case-judge-orders-his-release#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2022\/01\/img-61dc638ee506e.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Botswana\",\"Botswana\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\",\"Social\",\"sport\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/djokovic-wins-australia-visa-case-judge-orders-his-release#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/djokovic-wins-australia-visa-case-judge-orders-his-release\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/djokovic-wins-australia-visa-case-judge-orders-his-release\",\"name\":\"Djokovic wins Australia visa case, judge orders his release - 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