SIM-ply reckless

Published on

The Southasian habit of thrift – not wanting a good deal on a mobile phone to pass by – seems to have gotten Indian doctor Mohammed Haneef into deep trouble. Charged with providing "reckless support" to the botched car bombings in London and Glasgow in late June, Haneef is now a 'terror prisoner' in Wolston Prison, Brisbane. Currently in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day, Haneef is the first suspect to be detained under the new, stringent anti-terror legislation introduced in Australia in 2004. By the 2004 amendment, indefinite detention is now permissible. The legislation also followed up on a 2003 move to empower the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation to detain not only suspects, but also 'non-suspects' who may be holding information regarding possible 'terrorist' offences. If convicted, Haneef faces 15 years in jail.

Curiously, Haneef, who seemingly had only peripheral involvement in the late-June plans, has been speedily charged of the bombing attempt. Meanwhile, the driver of the jeep involved in the attack, Kafeel Ahmed, currently lying in a Glasgow hospital with burns covering 90 percent of his body, is technically not under arrest.

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