Black Immigrant Daily News

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — A Melbourne-based immigration lawyer says Novak Djokovic will likely be successful if he applies for a visa to enter Australia for the season-opening tennis major next year despite his high-profile deportation in January.

It could be as simple as writing to the Australian Border Force, explaining his exceptional circumstances and asking for any ban on re-entry to be waived.

The 21-time Grand Slam singles champion wasn’t allowed to defend his Australian Open title this year after a tumultuous 10-day legal saga over his COVID-19 vaccination status that culminated with his visa being revoked on the eve of the tournament.

This meant he could face an exclusion period of up to three years, but Australian Border Force officials have said those can be waived in certain circumstances — and that each case would be assessed on its merits.

And Djokovic has a case. He arrived at Melbourne Airport as the world’s top-ranked tennis player with a visa he’d obtained online and what he believed to be a valid medical exemption to the country’s strict laws for unvaccinated travellers because it was endorsed by Tennis Australia and the government of Victoria state, which hosts the tournament.

Confusion reigned, generating global headlines. As it transpired, that medical exemption allowed him entry to the tournament, which required all players, fans and officials to be vaccinated for the coronavirus, but not necessarily to enter the country. It was rejected by the Australian Border Force.

Australia’s Immigration Minister Alex Hawke ultimately used discretionary powers to cancel Djokovic’s visa on character grounds, stating he was a “talisman of a community of anti-vaccine sentiment.”

Immigration lawyer Kon-ming Tsai said that in his opinion, it would “be in Australia’s best interests” to allow Djokovic entry for the 2023 tournament.

“There is no risk factor here with allowing him back in,” Tsai said in a telephone interview on Thursday with The Associated Press. “He’s not going to create a problem for the community. He is one of the world’s best tennis players and will be able to pull in a lot of foreign visitors.”

Djokovic has not officially said if he will apply for a visa for Australia, with his media group in Belgrade saying it so far has no information regarding nine-time Australian Open winner’s plans regarding the Jan. 16-29 tournament.

Australia has had a change of government and changed its border rules this year and, since July 6, incoming travellers no longer have to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccinations. That removes one major barrier to entry for Djokovic.

The 35-year-old Serbian star, who has won recent tournaments in Kazakhstan and Israel, can now apply to new Immigration Minister Andrew Giles to reconsider his visa status.

In his favour, Djokovic left Australia quickly after his visa was revoked, he has not publicly criticized Australian authorities and will only be seeking a temporary visa.

The first step in the process is to make an official visa application, starting a two-stage procedure.

As the Department of Home Affairs website explains, applicants in Djokovic’s circumstances must explain in writing to Australian Border Force why the exclusion period should be put aside — “you must show us that there are compassionate or compelling circumstances to put aside your re-entry ban and grant you the visa.”

The ABF does not comment on individual cases as a matter of policy.

A review into Djokovic’s visa saga led to Tennis Australia outsourcing visa applications by players and their entourages to a company specializing in immigration matters.

That company, Absolute Immigration, has been asked for comment on Djokovic’s status but did not immediately respond.

At the 2023 Australian Open launch at Melbourne Park on Wednesday, tournament director Craig Tiley said Tennis Australia wants to welcome Djokovic back but can’t give him any official support with lobbying to the Australian government.

“It is not a matter we can lobby on. It is a matter that definitely stays between the two of them,” Tiley said, referring to Djokovic and the Australian government.

Tiley was heavily criticized for his role in the confusion which led to Djokovic being detained in an immigration hotel.

After meeting up with him in London last month, Tiley said he believes Djokovic holds no bitterness about the saga.

“He said that he would obviously love to come back to Australia but he knows it’s going to be an ultimate decision for the federal government and he accepts that,” Tiley, who is also the Tennis Australia chief executive, said. “If you notice, he is playing a lot of tennis at the end of the year in anticipation and hope there is a successful outcome with his application. But that is up to him.”

If Djokovic goes that route, the Malaysian-born Tsai said his decade-long experience of dealing with Australian immigration laws made him think it would likely result in a decision in Djokovic’s favor.

“Bottom line is that it’s in Australia’s best interest to lift the ban and have Djokovic return,” Tsai said.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

A judge in the Home Circuit Court on Thursday denied a bail application for police Constable Noel Maitland, who’s accused of killing his girlfriend social media influencer Donna-Lee Donaldson.

Maitland’s attorney Christopher Townsend has not ruled out appealing the decision to deny the bail application. He told Loop News that he’s awaiting Maitland’s instructions regarding this.

In the meantime, Maitland is to reappear in court on February 9, 2023, when the Plea and Case Management Hearing (PCMH) phase will begin. The court instructed that the parties engage in discussions before the PCMH date to determine whether full disclosure has been made and if any statement or facts can be agreed upon.

Donaldson went missing from Maitland’s Chelsea Avenue Apartment in New Kingston on July 12 this year.

Her body is yet to be found. However, due to certain evidence collected, including blood sample at the apartment, the prosecution believes that Donaldson is dead.

The prosecution asserts that Donaldson’s death may have stemmed from an argument between the two over a photograph of Maitland’s baby mother that was on display in his apartment.

The prosecution opposed the bail because of concern that Maitland may tamper with the prosecution’s case. The prosecution alleged that the accused had attempted to cover his alleged crime.

It is alleged that Maitland pressured a security guard that works at the apartment where he lives to lie to the police, attempted to coerce his neighbour to destroy video evidence, and destroyed evidence namely ‘the bloody couch’ that was removed from his apartment and cleaned.

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REAL NEWS: Drugs allegedly have gone missing from the old St. John’s Magistrates Court building, and the Police have launched an investigation into their disappearance.

A contractor is now engaged in work at the High and Temple Streets location, and reports say he notified the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) that two padlocks on the vault had been damaged.

The offence reportedly occurred sometime between the mornings of October 8 and October 10, when some unknown person allegedly used a hard implement to pry off the padlocks.

The scene was processed for fingerprints; but, initially, the Police and the Supervisor at the Court were unable to say if anything had been stolen.

However, following detailed checks, it was discovered that drugs that had been tendered to the Court as exhibits in drug cases – and were being stored for destruction – had been removed from the vault.

Tools belonging to the contractor were also taken, it is alleged.

Reports say the Court’s Supervisor is the person in charge of the safe and the only person with keys and access.

A source tells REAL News that the Police obtained a search warrant on Wednesday, October 12, to search the homes of two men who are working on the building.

Meanwhile, the source claims that since the Court was relocated to the community centre at Knuckle Block – where there is no secure room to store exhibits and other evidence – a request was made for a container in which to store them at the new premises.

According to the source, the former Director of Public Works, Lucine Hanley, provided the container in short order.   However, since he is no longer on the job, the retrofitting work has been dragged out.

Although the container is on site, only the air-conditioning units have been put in place. The unit still requires the building of shelves and the connection of electricity – all of which, the source says, is taking too long to complete.

It was noted that since Hanley left the Ministry, Court officials cannot get anything done in a timely manner.

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The St. Lucia Basketball Federation and St. Lucia Volleyball Association received sponsorship from the St. Lucia Olympic Committee (SLOC) Inc. last week Friday (October 7th) towards their participation in upcoming tournaments.

The St. Lucia Basketball Federation received $7,000.00 for their participation in the FIBA 3×3 Americup Tournament in Miami, Florida, from November 4th – 6th, while the St. Lucia Volleyball Association received $31,200.00 for their participation in the ECVA Senior Women’s Tournament in Phillipsburg, Sint Maarten, from October 12th – 17th.

The presentations were made in the Jonathan H. Everett Conference Room.

President of SLOC Inc., Alfred Emmanuel, presented cheques to representatives of both associations, noting that the SLOC Inc. is continuing with its mandate of supporting members with the aim of assisting them in fulfilling their own individual mandates. However, he called on members to be accountable.

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“Fulfilling the individual mandate is one thing; providing financial assistance to fulfill such a mandate is another thing,” said Emmanuel. “And when we put the two together, as the funding agency, we’re calling on our members to ensure that the funds are put to good use.”

He added: “We do not want to find the experience of going (to tournaments) knowing fully well that we have no business being there. Some members want their continental and international federations to believe that they are working so hard at home that they are in a position to be out there competing and that’s fine, but we want members to go out there and be competitive, and for persons in those tournaments to remember the Saint Lucian contingents as contingents they had great difficulty with on the field of play.”

While Emmanuel acknowledged that athletes will not always be victorious in their outings, he said performances need to reflect an upward trend – not stagnated or regressive.

Emmanuel said there are three major championships under there umbrella of the SLOC Inc. for 2023. These are the Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago, the Centro Caribe Sports (formerly known as the CACSO Games) in El Salvador, and the Pan American Championships in Santiago, Chile.

He lamented that while the SLOC Inc. invited members to make submissions re their preparation plans for these championships by September 30 this year, only three members have done so. He called on federations to tighten up on their internal planning so as to be more efficient.

Emmanuel also wished the teams the best as they prepare to represent the island in the respective tournaments.

“The SLOC Inc. wishes both delegations every success in their outing. We hope that the other delegations will see us as being serious contenders and not just being there making up numbers,” he said.

Leslie Collymore, President of the Saint Lucia Basketball Federation, accepted the cheque on his association’s behalf.

“We’d like to express sincere gratitude to the St. Lucia Olympic Committee for the support granted for our participation in the upcoming FIBA Americas 3×3 Championship,” said Collymore.

Collymore said Saint Lucia participated in the tournament for the first time last year, and ranking 12th in the Americas, dispatched world number seven ranked team Argentina, but missed out on the semifinals by just one point after losing to Puerto Rico. Since then, Saint Lucia’s ranking has slipped to 14th in the Americas. The aim, he said, is to move up in the rankings.

He noted that since catching the attention of other teams through their impressive performance last year, Team Saint Lucia is up and ready for the challenge at next month’s tournament. This, he said, is partly due to the SLOC Inc.’s generous assistance and insistence on members being accountable.

“Make no mistake – we are in support of the conditions that are put in place,” he said. “We can’t go out there and expect to perform at the highest level without proper administration, proper programming and proper preparation.”

Kerin Neptune, senior volleyball player, accepted the cheque on her association’s behalf.

“I would like to thank the St. Lucia Olympic Committee for the support and let everyone know that our team has been preparing for the last three months for this tournament,” Neptune said. “I feel we are prepared for this tournament.”

Thus far this year, the SLOC Inc. has approved a total of $508,442.46 to member associations.

SOURCE: St. Lucia Olympic Committee. Headline photo: Leslie Collymore, President of the Saint Lucia Basketball Federation, left, accepting the cheque on his association’s behalf from SLOC Inc’s President, Alfred Emmanuel.

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