The father of double murderer Yousef Palani has been granted High Court permission to proceed with his action over the State’s decision to stop his jobseeker’s and disability allowances.
Juma Palani, who has an address in Sligo, is taking action against the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB), the chief appeals officer, the Minister for Social Protection, the Minister for Justice, Ireland and the Attorney General. He claims there is no evidence to support an assertion that he engaged in criminal activity.
Yousef Palani, who was driven by his hatred of gay men and decapitated one of his victims, was jailed for life last year for the murders of Michael Snee and Aidan Moffitt and for stabbing Anthony Burke in the eye with a kitchen knife, all of which happened over a four-day period in Sligo.
Iraq-born Yousef Palani, who was 23 at the time of his sentencing, had asked his victims if they were “100 per cent Irish” and told detectives that he would have continued “to kill” if gardaí had not stopped him.
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Juma Palani is seeking an order quashing decisions made earlier this year “disallowing” his claims for jobseeker’s and disability allowance and seeking repayment of money paid out under the schemes.
He is also seeking a declaration that the State “erred in law and fact and/or exercised their discretion improperly and in excess of their jurisdiction in determining, pursuant to the Criminal Assets Bureau Act 1996, that there are reasonable grounds to infer that the applicant engaged in criminal activity”.
Mr Palani claims that no evidence supporting that assertion has been produced.
He is also seeking a declaration that the respondents have breached his procedural rights under the Constitution and the European Court of Human Rights Act.
In February, his solicitor wrote to the State parties requesting “any evidence for concluding that the applicant was engaged in criminal conduct and might engage in threats and intimidation of deciding officers” as defined in the Act.
At the High Court on Monday, Ms Justice Mary Rose Gearty granted permission for the review and adjourned the matter to January.
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