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Issue No. 139 | 07 June 2002 |
With Prejudice
Interview: Class Action Safety: A Mother's Tale Unions: The Hottest Seat in Town International: Defensive Enterprise Economics: A Super Deal? History: A Radical Life Media: Cross Purposes Review: When the Force Is Unconscious Poetry: Wouldn't It Be Loverly
Grieving Mum Turns Cole Around Hamberger Grilled Over AWA Scam Government Shrugs Off Death Sentence Charge Action To Pay Foreign Crew Aussie Wages Birds Get More Protection Than Workers Budget Delivers - But Not For DOCS Statewide Ban On Grain Loading Howard Soft On Organised Crime? UN Honours Building Union Drugs Program Award-Winning Poet Wins Right To Write Mahathir Told to Release Labour Activisits Horta Backs Western Sahara Independence
The Soapbox The Locker Room Bosswatch Week in Review
Robbo's Rave Latham Ad Nauseum Our Home Is Girt By Wire Hands Off Hooligans!
Labor Council of NSW |
News Government Shrugs Off Death Sentence Charge
International Transport Federation representatives unsuccessfully used a Victorian Supreme Court subpoena to try and have Sayadi Estahbanati, 32, removed from the vessel in Esperance. ITF spokesman Dean Summers says they got affidavits from the vessel's Iranian skipper saying Estahbanati was unlikely to survive the journey back to the Middle East. "The captain told our people 'I don't want to do this, I am being forced by your federal government. "Our information is that Estahbanati was an active dissident in his homeland and that his brother, who returned voluntarily from Australia, disappeared on reaching Iran. His family says he never left the airport. "On one hand our Government supports George Bush's assertion that Iran is part of the axis of evil. On the other, it sends back a man who has given evidence of his dissident activities in an Australian court. "We want some assurance that Australia will use its best diplomatic efforts to make sure this man isn't killed as a result of its actions." Sayadi Estahbanati had spent 22 months in detention at Perth and Port Hedland. His claim for refugee status was rejected by the Federal Court and he was being treated for severe depression at the time of last week's removal from Perth where he had given evidence against a people smuggler. ITF officials claim he was dragged from detention by APS officers and suspect he was drugged. "He was a big strong man and windows and chairs had been smashed in the room where he was being held," an ITF spokesman explained. Estahbanati was smuggled onto the Iranian bulk carrier, Iran Mazandaran, whose complement, ITF officials allege, includes two Iranian secret service agents. Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock dismissed concerns for Estahbanti's wellbeing saying "he came here as a stowaway and made claims and has been sent hom on a ship of the same shipping line." An Amnesty International spokesman said from London the deportation was a matter of "deep concern" because Estahbanati had given evidence of his political background in open court.
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