Exclusive: Abdellatif released to join family after years of struggling to overturn denial of visa as a result of being convicted in Egyptian trial that used evidence obtained under torture

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The Egyptian refugee Sayed Abdellatif has been freed after almost 12 years in Australia’s immigration detention facilities.

Abdellatif was granted a temporary protection visa and released on Tuesday afternoon from Villawood detention centre before being driven by authorities to his family’s home in western Sydney.

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Abdellatif remains in Australian immigration detention, where he has been held for a decade thanks to security assessments tainted by evidence obtained under torture

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An Egyptian refugee detained by Australia for more than a decade has been cleared by Asio of being a security threat, but the home affairs department continues to stall on his release.

Sayed Abdellatif arrived in Australia by boat in 2012, seeking asylum with his wife and children. Australia has recognised he has a well-founded fear of being persecuted and cannot be forced to return to his home country. But he has been denied a visa on the basis of tainted security assessments and held in immigration detention.

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