Australia ordered to release Adams documents

Australia ordered to release Adams documents

Immigration minister Philip Ruddock must release documents used to refuse Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams' entry to Australia, a court ruled on July 1.

Federal Court Judge Doug Drummond ruled that Adams, whose supporters launched a legal challenge after he was denied a visa, should have access to the government documents.

Adams applied last October for a visa to promote his autobiography Before the Dawn. Ruddock refused the application because of Adams' alleged "intimate association" with the Irish Republican Army, saying he was not a person "of good character".

Adams' Australian lawyer, Terry Fisher, said that government documents already obtained through freedom of information laws do not support Ruddock's decision.

A document from the Australian Secret Intelligence Organisation dated October 29, 1996, said: "ASIO does not recommend against the issue of a visa for Mr Gerry Adams".

"The freedom of information document gives no evidence of how he [Ruddock] reached his conclusion", said Fisher.

From GLW issue 281