Australia ordered to release Adams documents

Issue 

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.

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