A prominent Australian nationalist is fighting Victoria’s first Nazi salute charge in court, arguing that he did not perform the gesture and because it is a legitimate form of political expression the charge is constitutionally invalid.
Jacob Hersant, 25, the leader of right-wing activist group the National Socialist Network, pleaded not guilty at a contested hearing in Melbourne Magistrate’s Court on Monday, and is facing up to a year in jail if convicted.
Mr Hersant is accused of performing the Roman salute outside the Victorian County Court in October 2023 after he and European Australian Movement leader Thomas Sewell were sentenced for their roles in a clash with far-left provocateurs during a camping weekend.
The gesture had been banned in Victoria just six days earlier, along with the intentional public display of Nazi symbols.
Video played to the court showed Mr Hersant beginning to raise his arm before stopping and saying “nearly did it – it’s illegal now”, the Australian Associated Press reported.
Professor Katharine Gelber, who is Jewish, told the court the government should regulate so-called hate speech, including the Roman salute, claiming the gesture causes systemic and collective harm to minority groups.
Mr Hersant’s lawyer Timothy Smartt suggested that Professor Gelber had allowed her personal political views to affect her professional opinion, but the professor denied this.
The hearing will continue on Tuesday.
After his first hearing in January Mr Hersant spoke out in a video saying: “The Australian government is trying to throw me in prison, in solitary confinement, for up to a year, because they allege that I gave a political salute, the Roman salute.”
“These laws are against freedom of expression. They are built on emotion, and they are anti-White,” he continued.
“This government cannot claim to be a democracy, it cannot claim to be liberal, when it is trying to imprison its opponents for simply speaking against them. This country should have freedom of expression. We should be allowed to express ourselves when the government is pursuing policy that is not to our interests.”
