Police prevent asylum seeker accused of rape being deported before trial – lawyer | Australia news | The GuardianPolice prevent asylum seeker accused of rape being deported before trial – lawyer | Australia news | The Guardian










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Australian immigration and asylum



Police prevent asylum seeker accused of rape being deported before trial – lawyer









Iranian man’s lawyer says he deserves the opportunity to clear his name in court and will contest the charge














An Iranian asylum seeker accused of rape in Brisbane was nearly deported without a trial, his lawyer says. Photograph: AAP




Joshua Robertson


Wednesday 3 December 2014 21.25 EST







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An Iranian asylum seeker accused of rape would have been deported without trial but for the intervention of police to obtain a criminal justice visa, his lawyer says.
Samantha Breach said her client, 31, was met by immigration officers inside the Brisbane arrest courts and taken to detention as soon as the magistrate granted him bail on Tuesday.
Breach said an application by the arresting officer for a criminal justice visa was “in the works”, which would allow her client to stay in the country and answer the charge.
The man’s bridging visa was under review following the allegations, which would have left him “probably sitting in a detention centre for a good period of time before being deported”, but for the police intervention.
“They want justice to be served, as do we. He deserves the right, on our opinion, to clear his name,” Breach said. “He should be on bail [but] until that visa is granted he’ll remain in [immigration] custody.”
Breach told Guardian Australia she was not told immigration officers were at the court while she was making the bail application.
“I didn’t really get to speak to him and I wasn’t aware he’d been taken. What’s really the point of getting him bail if he’s then going to be taken into their custody?”
Breach said she expected to speak to her client next week, but did not know where he would be held. 
The immigration minister has the legal power to cancel residency visas on “character” grounds without having to rely on criminal convictions. It was unclear under what provisions Breach’s client had been detained.
Documents filed by police in court allege her client was among a group of men checking the welfare of a woman who had fallen asleep in a car park after drinking in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley on 30 November.
Police allege the woman woke up suddenly and screamed at the man, accusing him of moving her underwear and raping her.
He then fled the scene and was chased by witnesses.
Breach said her client, who has been in Australia for a year and a half, would certainly contest the matter. 



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