Majid Jamshidi Doukoshkan: Immigration detainee released after High Court ruling ‘repeatedly breaks curfew’

A Kuwait-born man released from immigration detention after a landmark High Court ruling has secured bail despite allegedly repeatedly breaching curfew - but warned he won’t be so lucky if it happens again. Majid Jamshidi Doukoshkan was one of 149 people released from immigration detention after a landmark High Court ruling left the Albanese Government scrambling to bring in emergency laws to keep an eye on them. The nation’s highest court ruled in favour a stateless Rohingya man in November, deeming it unlawful to keep a person indefinitely detained in cases where it was not possible to deport them. Eight days later, the Migration Amendment (Bridging Visa Conditions) Bill 2023 was introduced and passed that same day, giving the Government the power to impose a multitude of conditions on those released, including curfews and ankle bracelet monitoring. Those conditions were among more than a dozen slapped on Jamshidi Doukoshkan, who faced Perth Magistrates Court on Tuesday, charged with two counts of failing to comply with a requirement of monitoring conditions. The offence carries a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment and a $93,900 fine. Jamshidi Doukoshkan was brought up from a holding cell and watched on from behind a clear barrier, having been refused bail by arresting police. The court was told he had strict orders to stay at his East Perth residence between 10pm and 6am but allegedly breached curfew when he left his home late last Sunday night for 40 minutes. He then went out again from 5.52am to 7.58am on Monday, and when Australian Federal Police came knocking about six hours later, he refused to take part in an interview. The court was told the 43-year-old had breached curfew several times earlier this month, but was not charged and was instead reminded of his conditions, which he said he understood. “This is a very strict warning being brought into custody today,” his defence counsel submitted. She told the court there was “no excuse” for her client allegedly breaching curfew but later said he had gone out to pay for an item his partner had bought but could not pay for. Counsel for the Commonwealth did not oppose bail but warned: “Further breaches may not have the same response”. The magistrate told Jamshidi Doukoshkan he was “on very thin ice”, noting that one of the breaches occurred just minutes before his nightly curfew lifted, adding that she would not have granted bail had the Commonwealth not been so “generous”. He was released after paying a $5000 personal bail undertaking and will next face court on April 5.