A former immigration detainee, released after the High Court ruled indefinite detention was unlawful, has received a 12-month suspended sentence for breaching the conditions of his release including letting his GPS ankle monitor run out of battery.

Burundi-born Kimbengere Gosoge, 42, on Tuesday appeared in the Perth Magistrates Court via video link from Hakea Prison, where he has been held since his arrest by the Australian Federal Police three weeks ago.

He was originally facing six charges, but today four of the counts were discontinued.

Gosoge pleaded guilty to two offences of breaching his curfew and failing to keep his ankle monitoring device in working order, which were some of the conditions imposed on all the former detainees who were released after the High Court’s ruling last year.

The Perth Magistrates Court was told between April 26 and May 1 this year he repeatedly failed to abide by the curfew which required him to stay at a hotel in the Perth suburb of Guildford between 10pm and 6am.

His movements were tracked by the monitoring device he was required to wear, but its battery ran out and he was taken into custody and charged.

The court was told Gosoge and his brother had fled the African nation of Burundi in 2002 after their father died in the civil war.

He initially spent time in immigration detention, but after they were both released, his brother drowned at a beach.

The court heard Gosoge had a lengthy criminal record, including an 18-month jail stint in 2008 and a conviction for stealing a motor vehicle in 2014.

That led to his visa being cancelled on character grounds and he was taken back into detention in 2017, where he remained for six years until the High Court’s landmark ruling late last year which saw the release of 149 detainees.

Actions ‘irresponsible’

His lawyer Rhys Mola told the court that when Gosoge was released following November’s High Court decision, he was not provided with adequate support and one of the reasons he breached the curfew was because he felt “unsafe” and “isolated” at the hotel where he was required to stay.

Mr Mola said at the time of his arrest, Gosoge was working with Mercy Care to try to find alternative accommodation where he felt safer.

However, Mr Mola submitted Gosoge was finding it difficult to explain his situation to the Department of Home Affairs.

He described his client’s actions as “irresponsible”.

“He did not demonstrate a total disregard of the monitoring conditions … he was not acting nefariously,” Mr Mola said.

‘Draconian’ conditions

Mr Mola said the electronic monitoring of his client was “inherently punitive” and said the laws Gosege was subject to had “demonised a minority group of people like no other”.

He said former immigration detainees were not all rapists, paedophiles, armed robbers or serial fraudsters, nor did they have psychological deficits, and he maintained they were being subjected to “draconian punishment” imposed by the executive arm of government.

Mr Mola said his client had spent six years in “oppressive” detention, in which he was “interchanged” between Christmas Island, Villawood in New South Wales and Yongah Hill in Western Australia.

The court was told the offences to which the 42-year-old pleaded guilty carry 12-month jail terms.

But Mr Mola argued it would be reasonable for Gosoge be released on a good behaviour bond.

Magistrate Robert Young said Gosoge had a “long record of offending in WA”.

He said that while the former detainee may have felt unsafe where he was residing, it was not up to an individual to “decide for themselves if a place is suitable … and leave when they desire it”.

“The accused talked himself into thinking there was no real harm in breaching the curfew,” Mr Young said.

“These conditions are for community safety [and] to instil confidence in the community.”

Magistrate Young sentenced Gosoge to 12 months jail but said, taking into account the mitigating factors and the orders that he was subject to as part of his release from immigration detention, he could be released immediately on a two-year good behaviour bond, meaning he does not have to serve any more time in custody.

Speaking to Gosoge directly, he told him he would be subject to the same conditions – both a curfew and ankle monitoring – for another 12 months.

He also warned the former detainee that another similar offence would result in no bail and serving time in custody.

Gosoge only spoke to acknowledge both those statements.

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