An Australian far-right extremist has walked out of a Melbourne court on bail after being sentenced to one month in jail for performing an illegal Nazi salute.
Last month Jacob Hersant, 25, became the first Victorian convicted of intentionally performing the salute in public and chanting “heil Hitler.” He faced the Melbourne magistrates court on Friday morning dressed in a navy blue suit.
Less than an hour after being sentenced by the magistrate, Brett Sonnet, on Friday morning, he was granted bail pending an appeal.
Before the sentence was handed down, Hersant’s defence lawyer, Timothy Smartt, said his client’s “non-violent act” did not “justify sending a 25-year-old to prison”.
Sonnet said Hersant – who pleaded not guilty – had shown no remorse and remained part of the National Socialist Network, a far-right and white supremacy group.
He said Hersant uttering “Australia for the white man” after he performed the salute sought to promote white supremacy and elevated the seriousness of the offence.
Hersant’s gesture was “inherent to Nazi ideology”, the magistrate said.
“This court denounces Nazi ideology in absolute terms,” he said.
The magistrate said Hersant had taken advantage of the media, who captured the gesture on video outside court, to promote his beliefs.
He said Hersant’s salute was “clearly racist” and offensive to First Nations Australians, Jewish people and non-white Australians.
“The white man is not superior to any other race of people,” he said.
After the sentence was handed down, Smartt said his client would appeal against the conviction and sentence to the county court.
Sonnet granted appeal bail and told the court that conditions included Hersant not leaving Australia and not contacting prosecution witnesses.
Shortly after 11.30am, Hersant walked out of the Melbourne magistrates court flanked by his fellow neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell.
Hersant told reporters outside court he was “a Hitler soldier” and vowed to continue performing the salute, but said he did not intend to commit any offences while on bail.
Sonnet earlier said he considered the one month’s jail sentence to be “relatively lenient”. The maximum penalty for the crime is 12 months’ imprisonment and/or a fine of $24,000.
Smartt said a sentence of imprisonment would be the “most crushing” sentence for performing the salute handed down so far in Australia. He pointed to previous convictions in New South Wales of people who had performed the salute and received fines.
The court was previously shown a video of Hersant raising his arm to salute in front of journalists and camera crews outside the Victorian county court in October last year, days after Victorian laws banning the gesture came into effect.
He was then captured saying “nearly did it – it’s illegal now” and “Australia for the white man, heil Hitler”, before walking away.
During a pre-sentencing hearing last month, Smartt told the court Hersant was a family man, the full-time carer of his two-year-old son, and a far better person than the behaviour demonstrated in the video.
He argued that Hersant was a young person who was on track towards rehabilitation, arguing that the offending was at the lower end of the seriousness and a $1,500 fine was appropriate.
But the prosecutor, Daniel Gurvich KC, urged Sonnet to impose jail time and said the salute vilified minority groups. He said Hersant’s behaviour had been “calculated” and aimed to achieve “maximum impact”.
Sonnett warned Hersant if he committed an offence while on bail it would be “very damaging” for his appeal.
With reporting by Australian Associated Press
