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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 Victoria state
government had made the salute illegal.
The Federal Parliament passed legislation in December that
outlawed nationwide performing the Nazi salute in public or to
publicly display, or trade in, Nazi hate symbols.
A Melbourne magistrate found Hersant guilty, dismissing defense
lawyers’ arguments that the gesture wasn’t a salute and that the
ban unconstitutionally infringed upon Hersant’s 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. New South Wales
state had banned Nazi 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 “not necessarily” acknowledge that he had given a
Nazi salute when he was filmed by media cameras a year ago.
“But I do give the Nazi salute and I am a Nazi,” Hersant said.
“I’ll still continue to give the salute, but hopefully police
officers don’t 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.
“This is a historic and thundering day for justice and decency,”
Abramovich said.
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