An 86-year-old pedophile former Catholic priest has come a step nearer to deportation to Eire when a court docket upheld a call to strip him of his Australian citizenship
CANBERRA, Australia — An 86-year-old pedophile former Catholic priest got here a step nearer to deportation to Eire when a court docket on Friday upheld a call to strip him of his Australian citizenship.
Finian Egan has been combating a five-year authorized battle in opposition to former Residence Affairs Minister Peter Dutton’s determination to cancel his citizenship over the defrocked priest’s legal document.
Egan initially gained an attraction in 2016 within the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, a court docket that evaluations authorities selections.
However the Federal Court docket overturned that call and a second tribunal listening to final 12 months upheld Dutton’s motion.
Egan on Friday misplaced a Federal Court docket attraction in opposition to the second tribunal’s ruling. His ultimate possibility for attraction is the Excessive Court docket.
Egan was a 25-year-old ordained priest when he migrated from Eire to Australia in 1959.
He was convicted in New South Wales state in 2013 of sexually abusing three women between 1961 and 1987. Egan was 79 when he was sentenced to eight years in jail.
He tried to keep away from deportation by making use of to the Irish authorities in 2016 to surrender his Irish citizenship. He approached Eire 5 months after Dutton canceled his Australian citizenship.
Australia can’t cancel citizenship if it might depart somebody stateless. Irish regulation says folks should be residents of different international locations earlier than they will stop to be Irish residents.
Three Federal Court docket judges on Friday agreed that Egan stays an Irish citizen.
Dutton, who described Egan in a radio interview as a “horrible particular person” who was not a “worthy member of our society,” was changed as Residence Affairs minister by Karen Andrews in March.
Andrews didn’t touch upon the court docket ruling, however her division mentioned in a press release there have been robust provisions in Australian regulation for the minister to cancel a visa “if the individual is taken into account to not be of excellent character.”
Egan, who was defrocked in 2018, stays in Australia free on parole on an ex-citizen visa. The visa permits him to remain in, however not re-enter the nation.
He can attraction any determination by Andrews to deport him.
Egan’s attorneys mentioned that they had no directions from him to touch upon the newest court docket determination.
Melbourne Archbishop Peter Comensoli has backed Egan’s bid to stay in Australia. Certainly one of Egan’s victims has referred to as for Egan to be deported to guard Australian kids.