ANOTHER 125 Vietnamese migrants yesterday launched a bid for freedom, in the wake of this week's landmark judgment which resulted in the release of 14 boat people.
An attempt to have the 21 applicants and their families released immediately on the grounds that their cases were indistinguishable from the successful applicants was rejected by Mr Justice Keith.
He described it as a 'hopeless' request, saying he first needed to read the papers in each case and hear arguments from the Government.
Peter Graham was seeking writs of habeas corpus for Ly Duc and 20 others in an urgent High Court hearing.
The judge granted the writs, which were not opposed by the Government, but ordered that argument be deferred until after the Court of Appeal had ruled on his first judgment.
The Government is to appeal Mr Justice Keith's decision to release the 14 on the grounds their detention was unlawful because there was little likelihood of Vietnam accepting them back.
Mr Graham said the 14 were likely to cross-appeal the judge's findings that the detention was not unlawful just because it had been very lengthy, nor was it unlawful because each case was not considered individually before they were detained.
