Tennis star Novak Djokovic will be detained again by Australian authorities on Saturday before his case staying in the country is heard before the Federal Court.
The decision was made during an emergency hearing before Judge Anthony Kelly at the Federal Circuit and Family Court on Friday, after Australia’s Immigration Minister Alex Hawke decided to cancel Djokovic’s visa for the second time.
The tennis star will be interviewed by the Australian Border Force at 8am local time (4pm Friday ET) at an undisclosed location “agreed between the parties” in case.
At that point, Djokovic will be formally detained by two border force officials and escorted to his attorney’s office while his case is heard in Federal court.
The location where border officials will meet Djokovic will be kept secret to keep the tennis star safe and prevent “a media circus”.
Djokovic’s attorney Nick Wood told the court as he pleaded with Judge Kelly to allow Djokovic to be handed over to border officials privately.
Novak Djokovic v The Minister of Immigration, as the case file is known, was officially transferred from the Federal Court to the Federal Court of Australia late Friday night local time.
Attorney General David O’Callaghan will now oversee the case, with a hearing initially scheduled for 10:15 a.m. Saturday, local time (6:15 p.m. ET Friday).
Wood told the court that the Immigration Secretary used his personal power to cancel the 34-year-old’s visa on the grounds that he would “incite anti-tariff sentiment” if he were to stay. back to Australia, describing it as a “completely different approach” to the government’s argument.
“The fundamental new reason isn’t a direct risk to others, is that Mr. Djokovic is in Australia, especially in Melbourne, where being here stimulates sentiment against abuse. That’s the point. Wood said.
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