There are so many things about this sorry case that disturb me, but the kicker has to be our Immigration Minister's outrageous suggestion that Dr Haneef's prompt return to India somehow makes him more suspicious.
I don't know if Mr Andrews has ever lived in a foreign country. I have. I know how disorientating, stressful and sometimes downright scary it can be to be living in a place with different systems, different rules and customs, and different understandings than your home country. And for me, this was at least a country which spoke my native language.
So I put myself in the shoes of Dr Haneef, who on top of all the stresses of living and working in a new country, is picked up by police and held without charge for twelve days under new terrorism laws. Following this he is charged with a terrorist offense and held for almost another two weeks in conditions which include solitary confinement for 23 hours per day. During this ordeal, his case is used as a political football and on the very day a court grants him bail, a politician steps in to cancel his visa and threaten him with immigration detention and deportation. So when finally the Director of Public Prosecutions drops the case, recognising that there is little if any chance of a conviction based on the flimsy and mishandled evidence brought forward, Dr Haneef promptly returns to India.
I ask myself what my reaction would be if these things were (God forbid) to happen to me in a foreign country. What would I do upon my release? I tell you what I'd do... I'd scarper just as fast as humanly possible out of that god-forsaken place and back to the safety of home. Suspicious? Give me a break!