NRI
Dr. Jayant Patel granted $20,000 bail by a Queensland court
Brisbane, Australia, July 21, 2008
Anant Singh Anand
NRI Dr. Jayant Patel has been granted bail by a Brisbane magistrate
on manslaughter charges after arriving on a flight from the United
States.
Tony Moynihan, the Queensland Director of Public Prosecutions-
opposed bail, arguing, Dr Patel was not an Australian citizen,
had no family here, no job and no other ties to the community.
Dr Patel's defence lawyer Michael Byrne SC argued that his client
was not a flight risk and bail should be granted.
Despite prosecution objections, Mr Hine of Brisbane court, ordered
Dr Patel to provide a $20,000 cash surety.
Dr. Patel arrived in Brisbane today on a Qantas flight from Los
Angeles accompanied by two Queensland police officers.
Dr Patel is charged for 14 offences- three charges of manslaughter
and others include grievous bodily harm, fraud and negligence.
He was ordered to surrender his passport and cannot communicate
with witnesses. Dr Patel has been in custody since March 11, 2008.
Mr Hine said he had taken into account the fact that it would
take at least 12 months for the case to reach trial and that Patel
had returned to Australia from the US voluntarily.
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Los
Angeles International Airport to Brisbane International Airport,
Queensland, Australia:
- Around 10.30 pm at Los Angeles International Airport, he was
accompanied up the stairs of the plane by US marshals, who then
formally handed him over to Queensland detectives Darryl Johnson
and Graham Walker.
- Security on the plane was tight around Dr. Patel. He wore
mustard shirt and jean. He was not handcuffed.
- The detectives sat next to his seat # 26J, next to the toilet
cabin and immediately behind the business-class section, Qantas
flight 176. The flight was full with 420 passengers.
- He was calm, kept his eyes closed and his head against the
window before the plane began its taxi to the runway after midnight.
- He did not order special meal and ate simple vegetarian food.
Before touching down in Brisbane, he ate cereal and fruit.
Dr. Jayant Patel's arrival received headline coverage in the
Australian media- news papers, radio talk shows and televisions.
Helicopters and news vehicles were every place to following his
transfer from the airport to a police station in Brisbane.
NRI press media saw three sikhs, sardar ji where Dr. Jayant Patel
was stationed in the police station. One of them was Harwant Grewal,
who was very angry about this drama. He said:
- Media sell drama over facts. Their goal is to sell newspapers
and not to report the news.
- He was also concerned about News Media'sl head lines like
this:
- 'Dr Death' in local news papers
- Dr Patel - an Indian-born or Dr. from India
- Very Sad, even BBC today, wrote head line: 'Dr
Death' returns to Australia --A man dubbed "Doctor
Death" by Australian media has been returned to Australia
to face charges relating to the deaths of patients in his
care. see http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7516975.stm
Mr. Grewal said how he would get fair trail when you see head
lines news like Dr. Death even he is not guilty by the court.
Secondly, where are NRI US Drs Associations like--AAPI or UKs
Dr's associations ?
