Muslim Cleric Sent Home

Robert McClelland

Sydney based Iranian cleric Mansour Leghaei has been given 28 days to leave the country. ASIO has been saying for years that he is a security risk so why did Attorney-General Robert McClelland write two glowing character references for him? It seems he wrote them when he was a back-bencher way back in 1997. He described the sheik as an asset to the Australian and Muslim communities.

On Friday, the Migration Review Tribunal didn't agree with him and upheld a decision by the Immigration Department denying him a residency visa and his bridging visa has been cancelled. For more than ten years, he's been in court fighting not one, but two ASIO reports saying that he was in fact a security risk. Finally the Appeals Court agreed and he's on his way home.

Immigration Minister Chris Evans' spokesman said "The Department will seek to engage with Mr Leghaei in the coming weeks to facilitate his departure." he said. The decision also applies to his wife and one of his adult children which means their bridging visas will also be cancelled in 28 days. At least one of his children was born in Australia.