MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) 鈥� A self-described Nazi on Tuesday became the first person convicted in the Australian state of Victoria of performing an outlawed Nazi salute.
Jacob Hersant, 25, gave the salute and praised Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in front of news media cameras outside the Victoria County Court on Oct. 27, 2023, after he had appeared on a unrelated charge. It was six days after the had made the salute illegal.
The Federal Parliament that in public or to publicly display, or trade in, Nazi hate symbols.
A Melbourne magistrate found Hersant guilty, dismissing defense lawyers鈥� arguments that the gesture wasn鈥檛 a salute and that the ban unconstitutionally infringed upon Hersant鈥檚 implied freedom of political communication.
Hersant is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday and could face 12 months in prison and a fine.
Three men were convicted in June of performing the Nazi salute during a soccer match in Sydney on Oct. 1, 2022. symbols in 2022. They were each fined and have appealed.
Hersant told reporters outside court that he would consider an appeal to a higher court.
He said he did 鈥渘ot necessarily鈥� acknowledge that he had given a Nazi salute when he was filmed by media cameras a year ago.
鈥淏ut I do give the Nazi salute and I am a Nazi,鈥� Hersant said. 鈥淚鈥檒l still continue to give the salute, but hopefully police officers don鈥檛 see it."
Anti-Defamation Commission chair Dvir Abramovich, a leading opponent of antisemitism in Australia, said the verdict filled him with a profound sense of relief.
鈥淭his is a historic and thundering day for justice and decency,鈥� Abramovich said.
Rod Mcguirk, The Associated Press
