Jacob Hersant, 25, is the first person in the Australian state of Victoria to be convicted of performing a Nazi salute, according to a Tuesday Associated Press report.
His conviction was done by a Melbourne magistrate, AP's report said, and his lawyers' main defense is that when Hersant performed the salute, they instead said the gesture was not a salute and that the ban infringed on what was Hersant's freedom of political communication. Hersant had described himself as a Nazi on record before his trial and stated on record that he does "give the Nazi salute, and I am a Nazi. I’ll still continue to give the salute, but hopefully police officers don’t see it,” the report quoted him. He then said that he didn't "necessarily" say that he performed the Nazi salute on camera last year.
Hersant also praised Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler on camera outside the Victoria County Court in late October of last year, the Press report said, and he is scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday while facing a fine and around a year in prison.
After Hersant's conviction, Anti-Defamation Commission chair Dvir Abramovich said, "This is a historic and thundering day for justice and decency."
Salute outlawed as of last year
Australia's federal parliament passed legislation last year that outlawed performing the Nazi salute. Last month, lawyers challenged the legislation, stating that the gesture is a legitimate political expression, according to a report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
The report quoted Defense lawyer Timothy Smartt saying that it was "very clear to everyone my client has these views," but also stated that the gesture Hersant wasn't a Nazi salute. Part of Smartt's defense for his client was that "people raised their right arm for many reasons including hailing a taxi, an argument which prosecutors slammed," the report said. This, in addition to claiming that the Nazi salute is a legitimate political expression, is what comprised Smartt's defense in court.
An earlier report from April, also from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, said that prosecutors in Victoria failed to send two Neo-Nazis, one of which was Hersant, back to prison due to a violent altercation in a skate park involving a hiker group in which Hersant and the other suspect attacked them. Hersant had to complete 200 hours of unpaid community work over a year and two months, according to The Guardian.