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| Interpol drops premeditated murder charge against Sayed Abdellatif | Interpol drops premeditated murder charge against Sayed Abdellatif |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| 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. | 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: | 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." | "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. | 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 superintendent Peter Drennan 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." | |
| Despite repeated requests for comment, a spokesman for the Leader of the Opposition declined. | |
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