Friday, July 11, 1997
     
     
Judge decides today if Panther stays caged

CAPTION:

By JODIE BROUGH in Canberra

Panther push ... protesters march through Brisbane, demanding
Lorenzo Ervin's release. Photo by STEVE HOLLAND

The High Court Chief Justice, Sir Gerard Brennan, will decide today
whether the former Black Panther Mr Lorenzo Ervin should be
released from jail, after chiding the Government's lawyers for
suggesting he had no power to hear the case.

Mr Ervin's lawyer, Mr Terry Fisher, said yesterday his client had
been denied natural justice by the Acting Minister for Immigration,
Senator Vanstone, claiming that Mr Ervin had been denied the chance
to answer allegations against him.

An Immigration document listing the Government's objections to Mr
Ervin included that he had been acquitted of an assault charge in
1988, was a member of an anti-racist organisation and had helped
prisoners and disadvantaged people.

The Department of Immigration defended its decision to eject Mr
Ervin - who was convicted of hijacking a plane to Cuba in 1969 - by
arguing that certain decisions under the Migration Act were not
reviewable.

Mr Robert Gotterson, QC, for the department, withdrew this after
Sir Gerard questioned whether it was claiming there should be no
legal way to challenge a minister's decision. The case was
adjourned to give the department time to consider. About 100
protesters gathered in Brisbane and a further 20 in Sydney to
oppose Mr Ervin's jailing, while the Opposition Leader, Mr Beazley,
said the Prime Minister had misled the public in suggesting Mr
Ervin had lied about his name and criminal background on his visa
application. He accused the Government of making Australians look
like "a bunch of berks".

"Apparently, the bloke has either answered questions honestly, or
didn't answer them ... and the internal information of the
department was wrong."

The Australian Council of Civil Liberties said it had called on the
American Civil Liberties Union to take up the issue on the
international stage, saying it highlighted the need for a thorough
review of the Government's deportation powers.