Earlier on Friday, the High Court dismissed the appeal of a bisexual Iranian man given the pseudonym ASF17, who was seeking release from immigration detention by claiming he was being unlawfully held.

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The case was regarded as a legal sequel to last year’s landmark High Court ruling that outlawed indefinite detention, which saw the 153 detainees freed.

The appeal was an attempt to resolve whether someone who refuses to co-operate with moves to deport them to their country of origin can continue to be detained, if their own actions are preventing the government from removing them.

The High Court justices found that ASF17 had the capacity to co-operate with authorities and he could change his mind on refusing to co-operate at any point, meaning he was not in illegal indefinite detention, making it a complete win for the government.

“ASF17 could be removed to Iran if he co-operated in the process of obtaining the requisite travel documents from Iranian authorities. He has decided not to cooperate. He has the capacity to change his mind. He chooses not to do so,” the reasons stated.

The Commonwealth successfully argued the Iranian man’s ongoing detention was legal because the detainee could “bring it to an end at any time” by agreeing to meet Iranian authorities for the necessary paperwork to return to Iran.

The Iranian man’s barrister, Lisa De Ferrari, SC, told the High Court last month the government had never tried to resettle him anywhere else and that her client did not oppose being removed to a country other than Iran.

“Even take me to Gaza,” De Ferrari quoted her client as saying in evidence aired in a previous Federal Court hearing. “I have a better chance there of not being killed than if I go back to Iran.”

As a backstop, Giles introduced controversial legislation to parliament last month that threatens people with jail time if they resist deportation, enables him to revisit protection findings, and black bans entire nationalities if their countries don’t accept the involuntary return of citizens.

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However, the bill is yet to pass parliament after the Senate deferred it to an inquiry, which led the Coalition to propose 17 amendments that will be negotiated by the government and opposition.

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