Novak Djokovic was finally released from the Melbourne migrant center where he had been held for five days, announced the judge in charge of the court hearing held Monday morning in Australia. His lawyers have visibly convinced the federal court that the 34-year-old had contracted the Covid in December, which would exempt him from a compulsory vaccination to enter the territory and to participate in the Australian Open.
The world No.1 entered with a medical exemption, which was finally validated by the judge.
However, the government can still appeal and order his deportation from Australia.
The judge seemed to understand the arguments of the world No.1
Federal judge Anthony Kelly had appeared to defend the 34-year-old during the hearing which began on the night of Sunday to Monday. “What more could this man have done?” He asked before the government lawyers presented their arguments.
Recognizing to be a little “nervous”, the magistrate considered that the Serbian provided evidence, emanating from “a professor and an eminently qualified doctor” concerning his request for medical exemption.
The hearing was opened late after a computer problem caused by too many connections to attend its retransmission online. Antivaxes shared, despite a ban, the link to follow it by broadcasting it live on YouTube.
The judge finally continued the hearing without a live public broadcast, before restricted access, from which AFP was able to benefit, was granted.
“Completely confused”
According to the sportsman’s lawyers, the player was “completely confused” when he was heard for several hours on the night of January 5 to 6 at Melbourne airport. They argued in particular that he was deprived of means of communication with his entourage during his interrogation.
The Australian Open, where Djokovic aims to afford a 21st Grand Slam tournament that would place him at the top of tennis history, ahead of his two historic rivals, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, begins in seven days and his participation depends entirely on Mr. Kelly’s decision.
His lawyers say he tested positive for Covid-19 on December 16. However, he attended the next day in Belgrade, without a mask, a ceremony in honor of young Serbian players.
Djokovic, now mocked by the nickname “Novax”, was due to attend the proceedings from the former Park Hotel, a five-story building that accommodates around 32 migrants trapped in Australia’s immigration system, some of them for years.
According to his lawyers, his request to be transferred to a center where he could train for the Australian Open has gone unheeded.
His mother denounced “inhumane” conditions of detention
Present at a rally in Belgrade, Djokovic’s mother, Dijana, lambasted her son’s “inhuman” conditions of detention on Sunday. “He is only entitled to one lunch and one dinner, and he has no normal window, he is looking at a wall,” she told regional television, TV N1. Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said over the weekend that Serbia fully supports the champion and that she has had “constructive talks” with the Australian Foreign Minister. “We made sure that he received gluten-free food, sports equipment, a laptop,” she told Serbian television Pink.
As a reminder, the Australian tennis federation granted him an exemption, on the grounds of this infection in December, to participate in the first Grand Slam of the season, after his request was approved by two independent medical panels, said his lawyers.
But on his arrival in Australia, the federal authorities had refused him entry, considering that his grounds for exemption did not meet the conditions for entry into the territory. The Australian government insists that a recent infection only counts as an exemption for residents, not foreign nationals trying to enter the country.