ASIO accused of 'doctoring' Habib notes

[Swagman]

Source: news.com

ASIO accused of 'doctoring' Habib notes
By Amy Cooper
December 03, 2007 05:22pm

AUSTRALIA'S federal intelligence agency has been accused in a Sydney court of "doctoring" official records regarding Mamdouh Habib.

Mr Habib is suing Nationwide News (parent company of the publisher of NEWS.com.au) for defamation over a February 2005 article that implied he made false claims about torture.

A jury has found he was defamed, and New South Wales Supreme Court Justice Peter McClellan is hearing Nationwide News' defences of truth and justification.
An ASIO officer who interviewed Mr Habib three times in the weeks following his October 2001 arrest today made a number of potentially damaging claims.

Officer 1, whose identity is protected, said Mr Habib was never interviewed in the Australian High Commission and consular official Alastair Adams never met with him.
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But Mr Habib's barrister Clive Evatt threw the officer's account into question when he produced copies of his interview records with entire sections removed.
The versions tendered to the court, and from which the officer was giving evidence, were shorter and missing a number of blacked-out segments.

"Where did they go? Into the ether?" asked Mr Evatt.
"What I'm putting to you is that the report you read from this morning has been doctored."

The officer replied: "I can't explain that."
Mr Evatt accused ASIO of being "hand in glove" with Nationwide News.





Read more: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22862646-2,00.html

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## Mamdouh Habib was arrested in Pakistan, interviewed illegally by Australia's secret police ASIO, tortured, played tapes of women screaming and told that it was his wife and daughter being raped, and then sent to Guatanamo Bay for a year before he was released with no charges.

[groovedaddy]

1. Creating enemies faster than we can kill them

Still true today.

[gratuitous]

2. Any guesses on who owns Nationwide News?

First name begins with R-u-p-e-r and the last name begins with M-u-r-d-o-c. No fair peeking, attend to your own work, and don't look at your neighbor's paper.