After years of exile on Christmas Island, a Comancheros gang leader has lost a lengthy appeal against his deportation to New Zealand.
Sosefo Tu’uta Katoa, 28, former sergeant-at-arms of the Canberra chapter of the Comancheros, faces deportation after losing an appeal to the High Court on Wednesday.
In 2019, former minister of Home Affairs David Coleman ordered Tu’uta Katoa’s removal from Australia on the basis of his character by revoking his visa.
At the time, Tu’uta Katoa had been remanded on allegations including possession of a bomb and blackmail.
He had also been convicted of many other crimes, including a major assault conviction, in the past.
The ACT Magistrates Court heard in 2019 that police suspected the gang member of involvement in as many as 28 gang shootings and 33 arsons.
As he has contested the decision to terminate his visa, the Comanchero has been held in immigration detention on Christmas Island off the coast of mainland Australia under the Migration Act.
Multiple times, Tu’uta Katoa informed New Zealand reporters that he did not love the conditions on Christmas Island.
In an episode on inmates, he spoke to the New Zealand podcast The Felon Show about the “horrific conditions” on the island.
Following a disturbance on the island last year, he told New Zealand’s Newshub, “Sometimes I tell myself I’d rather die than live in this place (Christmas Island).”
Tu’uta Katoa missed the initial deadline to review Mr. Coleman’s immigration decision in 2019, but his attorneys submitted a request for an extension to argue that the minister failed to accord him the presumption of innocence by considering untested claims.
Tu’uta Katoa’s attorneys argued that the Minister acted contrary to the presumption of innocence and therefore committed jurisdictional error by relying on the charges brought against Tu’uta Katoa to support a determination that he posed a risk of reoffending and/or a risk to the Australian community.
His case was dismissed by a Federal Court judge in August of last year.
Then, Tu’uta Katoa successfully petitioned for special permission to appeal this verdict to the High Court.
The High Court denied Tu’uta Katoa’s final effort to remain in Australia on Wednesday.
Tu’uta Katoa’s earlier appeal was denied on the grounds that the Federal Court justice acted within his or her authority. The panel unanimously rejected the application.
Tu’uta Katoa is now facing deportation to New Zealand after he has exhausted all available appeals.