The first person convicted of committing in Victoria says he will continue to do this every day, but not in front of the police.
Magistrate Brett Sonnet found Jacob Hersant, 25, intentionally executed on Tuesday on October 27, 2023 – approximately six days after Victorian laws banning the gesture came into force.
A video played at Melbourne Magistrates Court showed Hersant in front of journalists and film crews in front of the departmental court.
He was later captured saying: “I almost did it – it’s illegal now” and “Australia for the white man, heil Hitler”, before walking away.
Hersant pleaded not guilty, saying he did not perform the salute and, even if he did, the charge was constitutionally invalid because the gesture was a legitimate form of political expression.
But Sonnet ruled that Hersant was guilty of making a gesture that so closely resembled a Nazi salute that it could have been considered one.
The magistrate said Hersant had changed the way he raised his arm to avoid being charged, but he still intended to perform the salute.
Sonnet also believed that the charge was legally valid, as it was introduced to protect minorities from harm and that the salute was closely linked to Nazi ideology.
The magistrate’s full reasons, totaling 184 pages, will be released later this week.
Outside court, Hersant said he was a Nazi and was not ashamed of performing the salute.
“I will continue to salute, but I hope the police will not see it,” he told reporters.
Hersant said he plans to appeal the decision, noting that his lawyer has argued that he did not perform a “perfect” salute.
Hersant will return to Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday morning for a plea hearing before sentencing.
The maximum penalty is 12 months in prison or a fine of more than $23,000.
A “historic” day
Anti-Defamation Commission Chairman Dvir Abramovich said the verdict filled him with a deep sense of relief.
“This is a historic and thunderous day for justice and decency,” Abramovich said.
“This verdict is a blow to the solar plexus of a resurgent and dangerous neo-Nazi movement in Australia.”
Hersant is the first person convicted of committing this act in Victoria.
Premier Jacinta Allan said the tribunal’s outcome demonstrated Victoria had the powers and tools to stamp out hateful behavior.
“This kind of Nazi salute behavior is completely unacceptable,” she told reporters after the verdict.
“He should be prosecuted, he was.”
In June, three men were convicted of performing the Nazi salute at a football match in Parramatta, New South Wales, in October 2022.
Nikola Marko Gasparovic, 46, Dominik Sieben, 25, and Marijan Lisica, 45, were each fined $500 after being found guilty of one count of publicly displaying a symbol Nazi without reasonable excuse and have since appealed.
The three men did not know each other before their arrest.
NSW banned the display of Nazi symbols in 2022, before Tasmania and Victoria banned the Nazi salute in 2023.
A federal ban on performing the Nazi salute in public or displaying symbols such as the Nazi hakenkruez took effect in January of this year.
