The lawyers of Djokovic, the No. 1 Serbian tennis player in the world, complained that the Australian authorities used torture techniques, such as sleep deprivation, in order to force him to accept the cancellation of his visa, while he was being held at the airport. Melbourne.
Djokovic arrived in the country late Wednesday night, ahead of the start of the Australian Open.
However, he has been embroiled in a controversy over whether he is exempt from the country's vaccination rules against COVID.
The Australian Government revoked the entry visa, but Djokovic's side appealed the decision. He faces deportation if his appeal fails.
The audition is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Monday (18:00 EST) Sunday), after a request from Home Affairs to be postponed to Wednesday was rejected.
After traveling for 25 hours, Djokovic's lawyers say he was questioned for six hours at the airport before being allowed to go to bed - only to be woken up by officials half an hour later and pressured to decide to cancel his visa.
According to leaked documents, the timeline of Djokovic's interrogation, according to his lawyers, is as follows:
00: 21-00: 51: The interrogation of Djokovic begins
04:11: Australian authorities announce they will cancel the Serb's visa and give him 20 minutes to give an explanation, with Djokovic asking to wait until 08:00 in the morning to call Tennis Australia to clear up theme.
05:20: Djokovic's request to rest until 08:00 to 08:30 is accepted
05: 22-06: 07: The Serb is waiting on a sofa to make his bed. He finally entered his room at 05:30, but around 06:00 he was woken up again and "pressed" to continue the interrogation.
07:42: Djokovic's visa was officially canceled
Based on Djokovic's allegations, the Serb asked to be given the opportunity to contact his agent and his lawyers, but was pressured to continue the investigation until he finally agreed to have his visa revoked.
According to the defensive line of the 34-year-old tennis player, the Serb "felt shock, surprise and confusion, while it is clear that his visa was revoked while he was tired and without having consulted his representatives".
Carine06 from UK, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
