Convicted killer to become an Aussie
Exclusive Alana Buckley-Carr,
The West Australian
June 25, 2011, 2:55 am
An Iranian stowaway, who stabbed to death a priest who was caring for him, has been found to be of good character and should be given Australian citizenship.
Efforts by the Immigration Department in the past 18 years to deport Hassan Baharestan have failed and the department was told this week that it must make the 55-year-old an Australian citizen.
Arguing the case in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, the department said Mr Baharestan's crime was "of the type that all Australians would find repugnant and involved an act of significant violence which resulted in the death of an Australian citizen".
"The circumstances of this particular offence are such that the Australian community would not want a person who has committed such a crime to become an Australian citizen," the department said.
In 1993, Mr Baharestan was convicted of manslaughter for the death of Church of Christ minister Douglas Good, a priest who had helped him settle into the Fremantle community after he received a permanent visa in 1989.
It was claimed during the trial that Mr Baharestan had been pressured into having sex with the priest under the threat of deportation. During an angry disagreement at the church's Fremantle manse, Mr Baharestan stabbed the minister with a kitchen knife, causing the priest to bleed to death.
He was sentenced to five years and 10 months jail. He was released on parole after three years.
During its attempts to deport Mr Baharestan or cancel his visa, the Immigration Department Immigration argued that he did not meet the good character test required of applicants.
But Mr Baharestan has fought against them every step of the way, arguing he had not been involved in any other criminal behaviour since the priest's death and had tried to make a life in Perth.
He admitted being charged with sexually assaulting a fellow patient at a Sydney mental health institution shortly after his release from prison but it was dropped because of a lack of evidence.
The tribunal found that Mr Baharestan's manslaughter conviction was due to "aberrant behaviour" and that he was of good character for the purposes of the Australian Citizenship Act.
Yesterday, Mr Baharestan declined to speak to _The Weekend West _ at his Fremantle Homeswest unit, saying his crime was a long time ago.
In a letter to the department, he pleaded to be made a citizen.
"The Australian quality and way of life are what I strive to embrace and I hope you will allow me to do so," he wrote.
Members of the Fremantle Church of Christ congregation were outraged to learn that Mr Baharestan was on the verge of being granted citizenship.
Shirley, who did not want her surname published, said the crime had sent shockwaves through the community.
"It was horrendous," she said. "I was told there was blood everywhere. I thought (Mr Baharestan) would have been sent out of the country right away."
Mr Baharestan's lawyer Stephen Walker said his client had been well behaved before and after his crime and had managed his mental health issues well.
"I would like to stress the importance of all the facts, including the length of time since Hassan committed the offence, his good behaviour before and since the offence, and the favourable
opinions of those who know him well," he said.
"Hassan has shown himself to be a contributing resident deserving of citizenship."
Friends of Mr Baharestan described him as being decent and calm.
The Immigration Department has 28 days to appeal the tribunal's decision but only if there is a jurisdictional error in law. Immigration Minister Chris Bowen has no power to intervene.
The Australian Immigration Departments BAR is set low enough as it is, and allows virtually any illegal non deserving applicant it can find into Australia, on the rare occasion that they find some one that, by granting them citizenship or residency would create too much negative publicity,they leave it to their Star Chamber,the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, to do their dirty work for them as per this case.
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