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February 29th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda Underworld figure Tony Mokbel looks set to launch a constitutional challenge to retrospective legislation aimed at blocking his bid to change his guilty plea in a drug-trafficking case.
Mokbel’s change of plea hearing was brought back to court on Wednesday, after the Victorian government introduced a bill to parliament to salvage thousands of prosecutions in danger of collapsing because police failed to correctly swear affidavits.
Mokbel’s barrister, Peter Faris QC, said a constitutional challenge to the legislation was likely but said he had been unable to receive instructions from his client, who suffered a heart attack on Sunday.
Mr Faris told the Victorian Supreme Court the legislation may breach Victoria’s charter of human rights.
“There’s a real prospect of a constitutional challenge to it,” he said.
Mokbel is seeking to rescind his guilty plea to drug trafficking charges after admissions by several police involved with his case that they did not swear affidavits.
On Monday his case was adjourned until March 13, while he recovers from his heart attack in Port Phillip Prison’s hospital.
On Wednesday, Justice Simon Whelan questioned why Mr Faris had not received instructions from Mokbel in recent days.
Mr Faris said his client was still suffering from the trauma of the attack, and said he hoped to see him next week.
“Heart attacks are traumatic, at least it was for me, maybe I’m a wuss,” he told the court.
“I really don’t want this case to kill my client if I can avoid it.”
Justice Whelan said he called the brief hearing after the legislation went before parliament to give both parties the opportunity to make submissions.
Prosecutor Peter Kidd SC said it would be premature to put anything to the court while the legislation was still before parliament.
“I want to wait and see the legislation in its full form if and when it’s passed,” he told the court.
Justice Whelan said the court could reconvene at short notice once Mr Faris had received advice from Mokbel.
The rare retrospective bill was passed by the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday and will be introduced to the upper house on Thursday, when it is expected to pass parliament.
Serious issues about the admissibility of evidence had arisen from incorrectly sworn affidavits, and the problem could have led to massive disruption of the criminal justice system, the government has said.
Failing to follow formalities in the swearing or affirming of affidavits would no longer exclude evidence obtained from legal proceedings, Attorney-General Robert Clark said on Tuesday.
The legislation would affect about 6000 existing cases before the magistrates court and about 300 cases before higher courts.
It would apply to affidavits made before November 12, 2011, the day after a Court of Appeal ruling on the affidavit issue.
It does not affect cases where a court has already ruled on the validity of an affidavit or the admissibility of evidence.
A spokesperson for Mr Clark said on Wednesday the government would not be commenting on any individual cases before the courts.
Mokbel pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges last April but applied to change his plea from guilty to not guilty late last year.
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