The judge hearing Novak Djokovic’s case in Melbourne has questioned what more the world tennis number one could have done to enter Australia.
The 34-year-old arrived in Australia last Wednesday after declaring he had a medical reason not to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
He has been in immigration detention since after having his visa cancelled.
The federal government officials argue Djokovic didn’t have an exemption against being vaccinated.
His lawyers argue Djokovic declared before boarding his flight to Australia from Dubai that he had a medical contraindication provided by Tennis Australian and was able to provide evidence of that.
The judge said those documents were in the hands of the immigration department delegate who made the decision to cancel Djokovic’s visa on behalf of Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews.
His lawyers says Djokovic was “utterly confused” by the situation because he had done everything that was asked of him.
Documents released by the Federal Court on Saturday show Djokovic contracted COVID-19 on December 16 and was free of symptoms before he arrived in Australia.
His lawyers will argue that he met the criteria for a temporary exemption under Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (ATAGI) guidelines and that he was denied procedural fairness during the decision to revoke his visa.
