Jacob Hersant: First person convicted under Victorian laws banning Nazi salutes to appeal

A Melbourne neo-Nazi who became the first Victorian convicted under new laws banning the public display of Nazi salutes has vowed to fight his conviction, labelling the laws “insane”.

Jacob Hersant, 25, returned before the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Friday morning as magistrate Brett Sonnet sentenced him to one month imprisonment for performing the gesture on October 27 last year.

Hersant raised his right arm at about a 90-degree angle in front of journalists and news cameras outside the Victorian County Court just days after the Victorian parliament enacted the Nazi Salute Prohibition Bill.

“Oh, nearly did it, it’s illegal now, isn’t it?” he said.

“Australia for the white man, heil Hitler.”

Despite Mr Sonnet flagging last month that his view was the offence was serious enough to warrant a “modest” term of imprisonment, Hersant’s lawyer Tim Smartt made a last-ditched effort to convince the magistrate otherwise.

He said six men had recently been fined $500 to $1500 in NSW for performing the salute “in a joking manner” like his client.

Mr Smartt compared the societal outrage and vilification of Hersant’s white supremacist beliefs to the communism threat of the 1950s and the Salem witch trials in 1690s Massachusetts.

He paraphrased Star Wars in a free speech appeal, saying “liberty dies to thunderous applause”.

Handing down his sentence, Mr Sonnet said there were limitations to free speech in most legal systems, including defamation, incitement and threats.

Mr Sonnet said Hersant, a prominent figure in the National Socialist Network, deliberately chose to make the Nazi gesture to promote his racist and white supremacist beliefs.

Hersant was taken into custody but freed about two hours later after Mr Smartt lodged an appeal and sought appeal bail.

The self-described Nazi will be required to remain in Australia, not contact prosecution witnesses, reside at a specified address and not commit any further offences until the appeal is held.

Mr Sonnet noted it could be “a long time” until an appeal could be heard given Hersant planned to challenge his conviction.

Outside court, Hersant vowed to appeal the conviction to the High Court if necessary.

“To be sentenced to a month in prison for a political gesture is farcical. These laws are insane, they’re emotional, they’re anti-white,” he said.

He told media he believed it was an honourable thing to be persecuted for his beliefs and said he would continue to perform the salute.

“I am a national socialist, I’m a Hitler soldier and I’ll continue to give the Roman salute if I want to,” he said.

The Nazi gesture on October 27, 2023, came minutes after Hersant had just escaped further jail time on a violent disorder charge after a group of 25 men, mostly masked, attacked a group of hikers at the Cathedral Ranges State Park on May 8, 2021.

Through Mr Smartt, Hersant had argued that he had not performed the Nazi gesture and, if he had, the law was invalid because it was legitimate political communication.

Both arguments were struck down by Mr Sonnet, who found Hersant intentionally performed the salute, and the purpose of the law, to protect minority groups, did not manifestly outweigh the impact on political communication.

“In short, the act captured plainly demonstrates the gesture so clearly resembling a Nazi salute,” he said.

“As a result your client has been found guilty.”

Mr Sonnet told the court that he was not to punish Hersant for his “extreme and unpopular” political views.

“He’s entitled to hold those no matter how unpalatable or offensive they are to others,” he said.

“What he is being punished for is the breach of the law.”

The offence carries a maximum penalty of 12 months imprisonment and a $23,000 fine.

Two other Victorians accused of performing the banned salute were in court earlier this week; however their cases were adjourned to December pending the outcome of Hersant’s case.

On Thursday, Victoria Police said it had conducted a “day of action” against the National Socialist Network, raiding five properties and arresting four men. “Police take a zero-tolerance approach to any acts of prejudice motivated crime,” a spokeswoman said.

Anti Defamation Commission chairman Dvir Abramovich hailed the sentence of imprisonment as justice speaking “loudly and fiercely”.

“This isn’t just a sentence – it’s a national roar that symbols of Nazism have no place on our soil,” he said.

“This battle has been my life’s mission, and I can say with pride that Victoria stands taller, stronger and unbreakable against the forces of darkness.”