The Federal Government announced several weeks ago that Mr Qasim would be released pending health and character checks.
He received a bridging visa after it was approved by the Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone last night.

• Click Here for Complete Story

---

Peter is admired by scores of detainees for the selfless assistance he's given them in their own battles with paperwork and bureaucracy, and valued by dozens of Australian friends for his extraordinary wit, intelligence and resilience. But nobody can face life imprisonment for no reason. As Peter once said, even Nelson Mandela in prison had the struggle for his nation's freedom to give him strength, but his own suffering serves no purpose for anyone. He is locked up, apparently forever, because of lost paperwork in India, and a file full of minor errors and misunderstandings in Australia.

Peter writes:

"Living without the freedoms that ordinary people take for granted is very difficult. The conditions of detention involve small humiliations every day, and at times we are subject to great injustice, but the worst thing is having no certainty about when my imprisonment will end. Even a criminal knows the length of his sentence but I have no such comfort."

But, since the Full High Court of Australia last month "approved" that 'stateless persons' such as Peter could effectively be held in an Australian detention centre until they die, Peter's situation is no longer in doubt: Australian politicians have successfully crafted their own sovereign right and legislated that sovereignty, to steal Peter's entire life, just because "he had the audacity" to seek asylum here, which is his right under the International Declaration of Human Rights. They have crafted this legislation, just so Mr Howard can make the political point of 'being strong on border protection'.

Protest actions and gatherings are scheduled for 9 September in Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.See them on the Project SafeCom website here.

Please consider joining one of these actions or create your own vigil, action, protest or media event.