Australian nationalist Thomas Sewell has been denied bail on charges relating to an alleged clash with left-wing extremists in Melbourne after a magistrate said the public needed protection from “hateful” speech.
Mr Sewell, 32, the leader of political organisation White Australia, faced Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday where his bail application was refused.
He was arrested on Tuesday mid-way through a contested hearing for unrelated matters, and hit with 25 charges including “violent disorder” and “affray” over an alleged incident after the March for Australia rally on Sunday.
Magistrate Donna Bakos ordered that Mr Sewell be remanded in custody on Friday, saying she believed he was a “risk to the safety and welfare of others”.
“People have the right to go about their lives without being confronted by hateful … speech,” she said.
“To lead and participate in, if not incite, an unprovoked attack on a sacred site … can only be viewed as serious conduct.”
Police prosecutors argued on Wednesday that Mr Sewell should be denied bail unless he disavows his political ideology and group, but Ms Bakos on Friday rejected Mr Sewell’s lawyer’s argument that this amounted to a political attack on his client.
As Mr Sewell was led out of the courtroom he said “we fight for White Australia”, and a group of about a dozen of his supporters said “hail White Australia”.
More to follow.
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