Haneef has no case for compensation, says Australia's police chief(Laed:-Haneef)

Melbourne, Feb.18 : The chief of Australia's Federal Police (AFP), Michael Keelty , today said that Bangalore-based dictor Mohamed Haneef had no case for compensation over the bungled terrorism investigation, which has already cost Australian taxpayers 7.5 million dollars.

News.com.au quoted Commissioner Keelty as further saying that lawyers representing Haneef had not formerly approached him on the compensation issue.

"Every step we have taken has had some form of judicial oversight,'' Mr Keelty told a Senate estimates committee today.

"It would be difficult to imagine such circumstances (where compensation would be appropriate).''

Dr Haneef, an Indian-born Muslim doctor working at a Gold Coast hospital, was arrested by federal police at Brisbane Airport on July 2 last year, just days after failed car bombings in London and Glasgow.

He was held for 12 days before being charged with supporting a terrorism organisation after his mobile phone SIM card was linked to his cousin, one of the men accused of being involved in the attacks in the United Kingdom.

The charge against Dr Haneef was dropped a fortnight later after prosecutors found there was no reasonable prospect of convicting the 27-year-old.

Approximately 5.5 million dollars was spent on employee expenses of which 1.6 million dollars accounts for overtime and approximately one million dollars in supply expenses.

Dr Haneef, a Gold Coast registrar, was arrested by federal police at Brisbane Airport last year and detained for a month on terrorism-related charges, which were eventually dropped.

AFP Commissioner Mick Keelty told a Senate estimates committee today that at its height, the investigation involved 249 AFP officers, 225 Queensland Police, 12 officers from the Federal Attorney-General's department, 54 Western Australian police, 40 New South Wales police, six Customs officers, two National Territory police, one Tasmanian police officer, six translators, four other officers from other law enforcement agencies and two UK police posted to Australia.

The staff took over 300 witness statements and dealt with 16 telephone intercepts, six surveillance devices and 22 search warrants. Police also seized 623 gigabytes of computer data and examined 349 forensic samples, The Australian quoted Keelty as telling the Senate.

He told the committee that the AFP had changed nothing about the way it conducted terrorism investigations since the Haneef case.

Attorney-General Robert McClelland is expected to announce the details of a judicial inquiry into the Haneef case soon.

ANI