Sixth immigration detainee arrested after High Court ruling

A sixth person released from immigration detention has been arrested after allegedly breaching his curfew conditions in Melbourne’s inner west overnight.

The 36-year-old man from Eritrea was arrested by the Australian Federal Police on Friday evening after allegedly breaching a residential condition of his Commonwealth visa.

He was remanded into custody by police to appear before Melbourne Magistrates Court on Saturday.

The man was charged with one count of failing to comply with a curfew condition. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of five years’ in prison and a $93,900 fine.

The arrest comes as pressure continues to grow on the Albanese government following a ruling by the High Court that led to the release of about 150 immigration detainees.

The ruling, which sparked outrage from the opposition, determined it was unlawful to hold non-citizens in indefinite detention at the country’s immigration centres.

Asked about the release of a sixth detainee on Saturday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it would be up to the courts to determine whether released detainees would be re-detained.

“We will not risk any legal consequences by trying to pre-empt those processes,” he said.

“I make this point, the High Court made the decision. We had to respond to what was the law, because governments should not break the law.”

NSW Police confirmed on Friday that a fifth detainee had been arrested by Queensland Police after allegedly breaching parole following an earlier assault conviction.

On Friday, Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said that the public deserved to know why thorough checks weren’t completed before the 39-year-old man was released.

“What I want to know from Anthony Albanese today is how many of these individuals will be locked back up before Christmas so that the community can feel safe,” she said.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said the government understood the anxiety that had been felt in the community since the detainees’ release.

“We understand it because in the High Court we argued against the release,” Mr Marles said on Friday.

“Our position is that they should have not been released.”

Just a day earlier, a 45-year-old man was arrested by police at a Melbourne hotel charged with one count of theft and one count of failing to comply with his curfew.

Eritrea, on the Horn of Africa, is often regard as the “North Korea of Africa” and has for years been one of the world largest exporters of refugees and migrants.