Information on Sroubek missed
WELLINGTON: Information in Karel Sroubek’s case file already showed he should not have been allowed into New Zealand in the first place, but the Immigration Minister did not use it in his original decision because he was not looking for it.
Iain LeesGalloway announced yesterday he was reinstating Sroubek’s deportation liability, because Sroubek’s previous convictions in the Czech Republic made him an excluded person under the Immigration Act.
He said information about Sroubek’s Czech convictions led to his new decision, which meant Sroubek would be deported after his drugsmuggling sentence and unable to return to New Zealand.
Sroubek’s lawyer, Paul Wick QC, said he would appeal the decision.
Mr LeesGalloway now faces renewed scrutiny as to why it was not already known Sroubek was an excluded person, because his Czech convictions were contained in the 12page summary of the original case file, released under the Official Information Act.
‘‘Sroubek is wanted by Czech authorities for service of 54 months’ imprisonment,’’ the file says, for attacking two police officers and a taxi driver, and for 2002 convictions for ‘‘disorderly conduct, damaging of another’s property and attacking a law enforcement officer’’.
An excluded person is someone convicted and sentenced to jail for at least 12 months in the 10 years before arriving in New Zealand. Sroubek arrived in 2003.
Mr LeesGalloway said the Czech convictions were not relevant to his original decision to grant Sroubek residency.
Immigration officials told him there were two matters for which Sroubek could be deported: his conviction for importing MDMA, and his use of a false identity to come to New Zealand.
Mr LeesGalloway conceded the information in the original case file was ‘‘potentially’’ enough to show Sroubek was an excluded person, but he did not think about that.
‘‘That was not the question I was asked to consider . . . I don’t know every single detail of the Immigration Act.
‘‘I didn’t look at that and say ‘Aha, he should be an excluded person!’ . . . I think it would be quite extraordinary to expect someone to think of all the possible questions that might be asked.’’
He said he had to make a decision based on the information officials had provided.
Asked if officials should have considered whether Sroubek was an excluded person before giving him the file, Mr LeesGalloway said a review into the process should answer that question.
Mr LeesGalloway had granted Sroubek residency, but asked Immigration NZ to review the case after a court document emerged showing Sroubek had returned to the Czech Republic in 2009.
This undermined Sroubek’s claim his life would be in danger if he was deported.
The review found new information, from Interpol, that led to yesterday’s decision that Sroubek was liable for deportation.
Mr LeesGalloway said the new information was additional to the Czech convictions in the case file, but would not elaborate, citing the possibility of an appeal.
He conceded public trust and confidence had been damaged, and the buck stopped with him.
However, he would not resign, but had apologised to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
Ms Ardern said she maintained confidence in Mr LeesGalloway.
‘‘I think, now, obviously, he’s issued a decision and now it’s up to us to make sure we improve the way things are done in the future.’’
Immigration NZ is reviewing how it prepares case files, which will be completed in March. — NZME