A far-right extremist will be released from court on bail on appeal after spending less than an hour in custody for performing a Nazi salute in public.
Jacob Hersant, 25, was sentenced to a month in jail on Friday after becoming the first person in Victoria to be prosecuted for the offence.
He arrived at Melbourne Magistrates Court prepared to spend a period behind bars after a magistrate previously indicated jail was the only appropriate sentence.
“I’m ready to go to jail,” he told reporters as he walked into court.
However, less than an hour after being sentenced, he was granted bail on appeal.
Hersant is the first Victorian found guilty of intentionally performing the Nazi salute in public, since the laws were introduced in October 2023.
On October 27, 2023, Hersant raised his arm to salute in front of reporters and cameramen outside the county courthouse, six days after state laws prohibiting the gesture went into effect.
Hersant, who has pleaded not guilty, was caught on video saying “he almost did it, it’s illegal now” and “Australia for the white man, heil Hitler”, before walking away.
Jacob Hersant, 25, was sentenced to a month in jail on Friday after becoming the first person in Victoria to be prosecuted for performing a Nazi salute in public.
Hersant raised his arm in a Nazi salute in front of journalists and camera crews outside the Victoria County Court in October 2023 (pictured).
Magistrate Brett Sonnet found Hersant guilty in October, saying he had made the gesture intentionally.
On Friday, he handed Hersant a one-month prison sentence despite last-minute arguments by his defense attorney, Tim Smartt, that he was exercising his “freedom of speech.”
“Freedom of expression is not a recognized absolute concept in Australia,” Mr Sonnet said.
“His non-violent act does not justify sending a 25-year-old to prison,” Mr. Smartt continued.
“That is an incorrect presentation,” the magistrate responded.
Sonnet said Hersant’s Nazi salute was “racist and intended to promote white supremacy” and called it a serious example of the crime.
“The court must denounce this behavior in absolute terms,” Sonnet said.
“The defendant attempted to promote Nazi ideology in the public sphere, which in my opinion increases the seriousness of the crime.” The white man is not supreme to any human race.
Hersant leaves Magistrates Court on Friday after less than an hour in custody.
The Nazi salute is illegal in Victoria and Hersant (pictured arriving at court on Friday) is the first person to be charged with publicly performing the action.
Immediately after the jail sentence was imposed, Smartt said Hersant would appeal both his sentence and conviction to the County Court and requested bail appeal for his client.
Mr Sonnet adjourned the court and Hersant was detained before being returned and granted bail on appeal.
He will leave court on Friday with bail conditions including that he cannot leave Australia or contact prosecution witnesses.
Sonnet warned Hersant that if he committed a crime while on bail it would be “very damaging”, especially in his conviction appeal.
