Australian nationalists Thomas Sewell and Joel Davis have lost a court bid to overturn bail conditions preventing them from communicating with each other or members of their political organisation.
Mr Sewell, 32, was arrested along with 15 other members of right-wing activist group the National Socialist Network (NSN) during an Australia Day march in Adelaide, and charged with “fail to cease loiter” and “display Nazi symbol” for wearing the NSN logo on a patch on his arm.
Mr Davis, 29, was arrested three days later while waiting outside court and charged with two counts of displaying a Nazi symbol – one for the same patch and one for an eagle on his belt. The pair were given bail conditions banning them from associating with other NSN members or entering the Adelaide CBD.
Video obtained by Noticer News shows nationalist activist Thomas Sewell being arrested seconds into a speech in front of the National War Memorial in Adelaide today.
“I am under arrest for celebrating Australia Day”, he says as police handcuff him. pic.twitter.com/Ac6unpgmTQ
— The Noticer (@NoticerNews) January 26, 2025
BREAKING ⚠️
Australian nationalist Joel Davis has been arrested for “loitering” outside an Adelaide court where he was waiting for 16 National Socialist Network members to be granted bail, two days after they were locked up over an Australia Day march.
Follow: @NoticerNews pic.twitter.com/5D7rQdEgx9
— The Noticer (@NoticerNews) January 28, 2025
The pair, who both live in Victoria, attended Adelaide Magistrates Court by phone on Thursday where their lawyer Matthew Hopkins called the conditions “draconian” said they infringed upon his clients’ implied right to political communication under the Constitution, noting they were forming a new political party.
“They do intend to form a political party and it would be a radical departure in Australian constitutional jurisprudence for that political ideology to be outlawed,” Mr Hopkins told the court during Mr Sewell’s hearing.
“What we have is bail conditions on these offences that are impairing the defendant’s right to political communication.
“I would submit to the court that it should be cautious in applying such a deep incursion on the fundamental rights.”
More footage has emerged of Thomas Sewell’s arrest on Australia Day.
“I have come peacefully, I have not hurt anyone,” he says.
“They have arrested us for celebrating Australia Day, they are led by corrupt traitors who hate this country and are trying to disrupt any national… pic.twitter.com/tdtt2gKhtl
— The Noticer (@NoticerNews) January 29, 2025
Mr Hopkins also argued that Mr Sewell’s charges had “zero” chance of resulting in a conviction and that the NSN patch was not a Nazi symbol, and told the court that the activists were “targeted” by South Australia Police who “had a premeditation to disrupt that demonstration and to arrest”.
“There were numerous demonstrations happening in Adelaide,” he told the court.
“And it seems to be the case where it is this particular organisation that has been targeted as a special group. They were carrying the Australian flag, they were at no stage anywhere near those protests.
“One of them was called anti-Australia Day, one was called Invasion Day.
“You have polarising ideologies here that are in conflict and as part of our constitutional representative government we allow for that and that is part of the reason why the right to political communication is there, so that there is an outlet for legitimate displays of an ideology.”
Prosecutor Phoebe Foster-Richardson opposed the removal of the bail conditions, claiming Mr Sewell was at risk of reoffending, and said the non-association order would prevent his group from carrying out other demonstrations, alleging the NSN “intended to upset other people in the community” on January 26.
Ms Foster-Richardson told the court that while the NSN logo was “not a typical Nazi symbol” or a Swastika, the prosecution would provide expert evidence that it was a Nazi symbol under South Australian legislation that came into effect in December 2024.
Magistrate Luke Davis refused to vary the bail conditions, accusing Mr Sewell and Mr Davis of “fake innocence” and saying the non-association orders had been successful since the pair had not violated them.
“In my view, there’s a degree of fake innocence in the submissions and the position of the defence in this matter,” he said, and claimed that NSN gatherings created an “intimidating presence” and “resulted in community distress and offence”.
He said he had a “real fear” that Mr Sewell would organise more demonstrations if the conditions were altered, and included himself among the alleged victims of the alleged offending.
“In my view the victims are all of us here and elsewhere,” Magistrate Davis said.
“I refuse the application, in my view the bail is working, because there’s been no further offending.”
Joel Davis’s application was refused immediately afterwards and their matters were listed for a pre-trial conference on May 29.
Another activist arrested on January 26, Stephen Wells, has been in solitary confinement in a remand prison ever since for refusing to agree to the same bail conditions, while others have had the same charges dropped, including a Queensland man who saw a different magistrate in the same court on Thursday.
Both activists addressed the outcome on Telegram on Thursday afternoon, and Mr Davis said they would be appealing in the Supreme Court of South Australia, with their legal fees expected to be between $20,000 and $30,000.
“This isn’t just an attack on our personal political rights, it is an unconstitutional attack upon the rights of all White Australians with nationalist views whom we represent,” Mr Davis wrote.
“We have the magistrate admitting his political bias on record, defining himself as a victim of ‘intimidation’ and ‘distress’ (of course, we weren’t charged with either of these things) because we had a cross on our shirt while publicly celebrating our national holiday.”
Members of the National Socialist Network sing Waltzing Matilda as they march through the Adelaide CBD on Australia Day.
Police later made multiple arrests. pic.twitter.com/czRIgdWKsX
— The Noticer (@NoticerNews) January 26, 2025
Mr Sewell described the judgement as “obviously politically motivated”, and said the magistrate’s comments showed “absolute bias and prejudice” and proved the intention of the court was to prevent him and his group from performing political demonstrations.
“The magistrate made it clear that I was ‘fake-innocent’ of the charges of hurting his feelings, in which he is a victim. Despite the fact that magistrates can’t be victims in their own cases, he still proceeded with the matter and accused me of being pseudo-guilty of crimes I’m not even charged with,” he wrote on Telegram.
“The White Australian men who attended Australia Day in Adelaide this year including myself, were not charged with hurting anyone’s feelings, they were charged with wearing sunglasses and a hat, standing around without police permission, and having a cross on their sleeves.
“The Magistrate court of Adelaide and Magistrate Davis have proven themselves to be a Kangaroo court with zero jurisprudence. This is a blatant show of corruption as shown by the magistrate’s own comments which incriminate him. His decision was not based on any crime I had allegedly committed, but the pseudo-crime of hurting peoples feelings – of which he is a victim.
“Political policing in Australia is simple – ‘Show me the man and I’ll find you the crime’. Political courts even simpler – ‘You are fake-innocent until proven guilty’.”
Header image: Left, right, Mr Sewell and Mr Davis being arrested.
