Novak Djokovic will be released from immigration detention in Melbourne. He got there because of the scandal with the medical withdrawal from vaccination
The world-famous tennis player and world number one Novak Djokovic earlier this year got into an unpleasant situation in Australia, where he flew to the Australian Open tournament. The border service at Melbourne airport detained him, citing the fact that the visa issued by the tennis player does not allow entry into the country on medical exemption from coronavirus vaccination. Earlier, Djokovic criticized mandatory vaccination and did not answer questions about whether he had been vaccinated.
As a result, the Australian government canceled the athlete's visa, and he himself was sent to an immigration detention center before trial. Djokovic's lawyers filed an appeal, and today it became known that Judge Anthony Kelly granted the appeal and decided to release the tennis player within 30 minutes after the end of the meeting. Thus, the decision to cancel Djokovic's Australian visa has been canceled. Djokovic's passport and all other personal belongings must be returned to him.
However, Djokovic's confrontation with the Australian government may continue. So, the representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Australia Christopher Tran, who was present at the court session, said that the Interior Minister Karen Andrews could still expel the athlete from the country, using personal powers.
Earlier, the organizers of the Australian Open announced that they would not allow players who have not been vaccinated against coronavirus to enter the tournament. Australia now has very strict rules in terms of vaccination and the exception that was made for the athlete, many eventually caused outrage. Djokovic himself was ill with coronavirus in 2020. It is not known whether he was vaccinated after that.