Latest news with #NationalSocialistNetwork
7NEWS
29-05-2025
- 7NEWS
New police twist as neo-Nazi leader has symbol charge dropped in court
National Socialist Network leader Thomas Sewell has had a criminal charge dropped over his neo-Nazi group's Australia Day weekend protest. Melbourne resident Sewell, 31, was among 17 NSN members arrested after marching in Adelaide in January. On Thursday, a charge of using a Nazi symbol was withdrawn in his criminal case in the Adelaide Magistrates Court. Sewell remains charged with one count of loitering. Since the Australia day arrest, Sewell has since claimed that police wanted to kill members of his neo-Nazi group. He has published audio online that allegedly captures SAPOL officers on Australia Day joking about shooting the neo-Nazi group. 'I'm happy to shoot them,' one person said. 'Happy to?' another person asked. 'I'm happy to shoot them' the first person answered. Sewell is scheduled to return to court next week.
ABC News
29-05-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Neo-Nazi leader Thomas Sewell has one of his charges dropped in Adelaide court
A charge of using a Nazi symbol has been dropped against National Socialist Network leader Thomas Sewell. Mr Sewell, 31, was among 17 members of a group that was arrested after marching in Adelaide over the Australia Day long weekend. He appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Thursday, where a charge of using a Nazi symbol was withdrawn. He remains charged with one count of loitering. Mr Sewell previously told the court the arrests were "outright political persecution", and said that a non-contact clause imposed on his bail agreement was "disproportionate". Despite being granted permission to appear in court via phone, he attended in person and outside court said he intended to keep fighting "all the way to the High Court". He is scheduled to return to court next week for a pre-trial conference on the loitering charge. Another member of the group, Joel Thomas Davis, also appeared in person in the Adelaide Magistrates Court. A charge of using a Nazi symbol on Australia Day was withdrawn, while a second count of using a Nazi symbol, which is alleged to have occurred two days later, on January 28, remains. Outside court, he said he felt "vindicated" one of the charges had been withdrawn. He is next scheduled to return to court in July for a pre-trial conference. Earlier this month, Stephen Wells, who was among the group of men arrested during the Australia Day demonstration, had a charge of using a Nazi symbol dropped. The 55-year-old from Broadwater in Western Australia is no longer accused of any offending in relation to the demonstration, after a charge of loitering was withdrawn at an earlier hearing in March. Another of the men, Ethan Hendren, was convicted in his absence and discharged without further penalty for three charges, including using a Nazi symbol. He was ordered to pay a $1,080 victims of crime levy.
ABC News
06-05-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Thomas Sewell given contested hearing over alleged role in Ballarat white supremacist rally
A Melbourne man who allegedly fronted a white supremacist rally in Ballarat will go to a three-day contested hearing after claiming the act could not be deemed criminal. Thomas Sewell on Tuesday faced Ballarat Magistrates Court in person for the first time, despite it being the third time his matter has been heard in court. The Melbourne man was charged with behaving in an offensive manner in a public area after allegedly leading the rally on December 3, 2023. The 32-year-old has been representing himself, and in court on Tuesday accused Victoria Police of malicious prosecution, arguing the rally was political but not criminally offensive. The court heard that during the rally, Mr Sewell — along with 25 masked supporters — was allegedly chanting, "white man, National Socialist Network", "non-whites should be deported" and "white man, fight back". Mr Sewell has argued his matter is constitutional, that he has a right to political expression, and the rallies and chanting were not criminally offensive. "I disagree with the prime minister, that doesn't make him a criminal," Mr Sewell said. "This is not offensive behaviour." A small group of masked Neo-Nazis paraded through Ballarat in 2023. ( Supplied ) Contested hearing Magistrate Letizia Torres accepted that Mr Sewell had raised his constitutional concerns to all of Australia's Attorneys-General. There has been no direction as to whether the matter will be taken away from the state and instead go to the High Court. In the meantime, a date has been set for a three-day contested hearing in October. The court heard eight witnesses will present evidence in the hearing. The witnesses include two members of the public and Victoria Police members. Hours of body-worn camera footage will also be presented to the court during the hearing. The court also heard members of the public were "distressed and outraged" and yelled at the rally to stop, and that triple-0 calls were made regarding the march. Mr Sewell will return to court for a mention in September. ABC Ballarat — local news in your inbox Get our local newsletter, delivered free each Wednesday Your information is being handled in accordance with the Email address Subscribe
Daily Mail
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Disgusting moment election campaign turns ugly - leaving Aussies visibly shocked
Jewish community leaders have condemned neo-Nazis for distributing vile antisemitic leaflets in Melbourne just days before the federal election. Residents in Caulfield - a suburb with one of Australia's largest Jewish populations -received pamphlets designed to mimic Liberal Party campaign material. The fake brochures featured a doctored party logo, replacing the Australian flag with an Israeli one. ' Israel First: Australia doesn't need to defend itself,' the material read. 'Abolish Free Speech: Criticising Jews is another holocaust. 'Jail Anti-Semites: Making Jews feel safe is all that matters. 'Give Jews Free Money: Jews are doing it tough and need our charity.' The material claimed to be 'authorised by Joel Davis, National Socialist Network, Melbourne', one of Australia's most notorious neo-Nazi groups. He was seen in Melbourne distributing the flyers in Kew, alongside two people imitating Orthodox Jews. 'Great policy delivered by the Liberal Party … great policies,' he said. 'Israel first, Australia doesn't need to defend itself; why would Australia need to defend itself.' Bystanders appeared visibly uncomfortable as they hurried past. Robert Gregory, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Jewish Association, condemned the letters. 'Members of the Jewish community contacted us in shock after receiving these hateful flyers,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'The flyer appears to be an attempt to impersonate and harm the Liberal Party. 'There is absolutely no place for Nazis and antisemitism in Australia. 'The attempt to mock the Liberal party because of its strong stand against antisemitism and in support of Israel's war against terrorism will backfire. 'These Nazis recognise that Australians would never vote for them if they ran in the election, so they creep around at night printing and spreading hateful flyers.' Chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission Dr Dvir Abramovich said antisemitism has become increasingly aimed at anyone 'who dares to stand alongside the Jewish community'. 'This is not about religion, it's about exclusion,' he said. 'It's about marking people as 'other.' It's about enforcing a perverse ideology through fear. This is not just an attack on Jews. It's an attack on democracy itself.' A spokesperson for the AEC said the commission is reviewing the pamphlets, but has not yet decided whether they breach any electoral laws. 'We are aware of the flyers and are reviewing them to ensure that they comply with the authorisation rules,' the spokesman said. 'While the AEC understands that the content of these flyers will evoke a strong emotional reaction, it is imperative that we stick to our legal role – and the Electoral Act is clear that the AEC is not able to make determinations about the content of electoral communications. 'In saying this, there may be other bodies that could have an interest under separate legislation given the nature of the content. 'While the Electoral Act doesn't prohibit the use of a political party's logo, there may be other potential legal remedies that would fall outside of electoral laws.'
Herald Sun
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Herald Sun
National Socialist Network: Caulfield residents wake to find anti-Semitic flyer
Don't miss out on the headlines from Victoria. Followed categories will be added to My News. Residents in one of Australia's largest Jewish populations woke to find disturbing anti-Semitic flyers — believed to have been authorised by a prominent neo-Nazi group — in their mailboxes on Wednesday. Several homeowners in Caulfield, in Melbourne's southeast, discovered pamphlets delivered early this morning with the following message: 'Giving the Jews everything they want'. The flyers display an alerted Liberal Party logo with the Israeli flag inserted within the design, with the bottom of the material claiming to be authorised by the National Socialist Network leader. On the back of the flyer, a four-point-plan insinuates ways in which the Liberal Party will give the 'Jews everything they want'; including putting 'Israel First', 'Abolish Free Speech', 'Jail anti-Semites' and 'Give Jews Free Money'. One Caulfield resident, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Herald Sun she was collecting her mail this morning when the flyer immediately caught her eye. 'Obviously there has been a lot of political pamphlets over the last few weeks but this one was definitely designed to stand out, brightly coloured with capitals and bold text and designed to look like 'official' political advertising,' she said. 'It felt brazen, bold, and I felt totally violated and infiltrated. 'To know that a neo-Nazi had brazenly walked around my street, chosen my house, my safe space with my family inside and opened my letterbox to leave something inside with the sole purpose of trying to offend, intimidate and share their hate.' Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler said Jewish people should be able to feel safe in their own homes, not under threat from extremists who want to harm them. 'Over the last 18 months, ridiculous and hateful conspiracy theories have been spread about Australian Jews,' Mr Leibler said. 'It's dangerous, and it must be rejected by all Australians.' Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said this year's election had spiralled into one of the 'ugliest' in terms of anti-Semitic attacks seen against candidates. 'Now, the Jewish community has to contend with Nazi filth dropped in the area with the highest concentration of Jewish residents in the state, including Holocaust survivors and many of their descendants,' Mr Ryvchin said. 'Nazi sympathisers are an embarrassment to our country and are the lowest of the low.' He said he trusted police to do their utmost to find those behind the incidents overnight and this morning.
