Nationalist activist Thomas Sewell has been cleared in court six months after being hit with politically motivated charges and punitive bail conditions over a march through Adelaide on Australia Day.
Mr Sewell, the leader of political organisation White Australia, appeared in Adelaide Magistrates Court by telephone on Tuesday where the prosecution withdrew a charge of loitering, a month and a half after a separate charge of displaying a Nazi symbol was also dropped.
Mr Sewell’s defence counsel, Matthew Hopkins of Paladin Lawyers, told the court his client had been “targeted pre-emptively” by police, who then held Mr Sewell and 15 other men in solitary confinement for three days after the march held by the National Socialist Network (NSN) – the activist branch of White Australia – on January 26.
Video obtained by Noticer News shows nationalist activist Thomas Sewell being arrested seconds into a speech in front of the National War Memorial in Adelaide today.
“I am under arrest for celebrating Australia Day”, he says as police handcuff him. pic.twitter.com/Ac6unpgmTQ
— The Noticer (@NoticerNews) January 26, 2025
“This prosecution is a political prosecution. The charges were for an improper purpose to disrupt their political activities,” he said.
“These guys were politically gathered, politically demonstrating, on Australia Day – a significant public holiday. The 30-or-so members of this political organisation were targeted pre-emptively to disrupt their peaceful assembly.”
After dropping the charges the prosecution then alleged that Mr Sewell had breached bail conditions in May, and Mr Sewell responded by asking: “How can you breach bail for a charge that gets dropped?”
Magistrate John Clover told Mr Sewell that he had a lawyer present, Mr Sewell responded “Answer my question, buddy”, and was warned he would be removed from the call.
“Remove me then. I want the record to show you are nothing but corrupt dogs, this is absolute corruption,” Mr Sewell replied, and had his audio link cut.
More footage has emerged of Thomas Sewell’s arrest on Australia Day.
“I have come peacefully, I have not hurt anyone,” he says.
“They have arrested us for celebrating Australia Day, they are led by corrupt traitors who hate this country and are trying to disrupt any national… pic.twitter.com/tdtt2gKhtl
— The Noticer (@NoticerNews) January 29, 2025
Mr Sewell, a father-of-two from Victoria, is no longer on bail but will appear in court again in August to face the new bail breach allegations, and then in September for an indemnity costs hearing.
Mr Hopkins told Noticer News the dropping of the charges showed that Mr Sewell the other NSN members should never have been dragged through the courts over the Australia Day march, and said the police had been trying to prevent the nationalist group from communicating their political ideas.
“There is no place in our country for political policing. The arrests should never have occurred, and the charges should never have been laid,” he said.
“South Australia Police were on notice from the outset that the Nazi symbol and loitering charges had zero prospects of success.
“[The police] have been trying, unsuccessfully, to shoe-horn the lawful assembly of the National Socialist Network on Australia Day into any available offence, for the improper purpose of burdening the rights of Australians of a nationalist political leaning.”
Most of the remaining 15 NSN members charged on Australia Day have also had their charged dropped, including Western Australian man Stephen Wells, 56, who was locked up for almost four months while prosecutors repeatedly had his case adjourned and magistrates refuse to alter his bail conditions.
Prominent White Australia activist Joel Davis, who was charged with two counts of “display Nazi symbol” for the NSN patch on his jacket and an eagle on his belt buckle while waiting for Mr Sewell and the other NSN members outside court three days after Australia Day, had the charge relating to the patch dropped in June along with his non-association bail conditions, but will face court again over the belt later this year.
Mr Davis responded to Mr Sewell’s charges being dropped on Tuesday afternoon, writing on his Telegram channel: “With this, SA Police have now completely acknowledged what they did to us on Australia Day was unlawful political policing. Total White Australia Vindication.”
Header image: Left, right, Thomas Sewell being arrested (supplied).
