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 by Magistrate Donna Bakos.
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 in the Kings Domain after the March for Australia rally on Sunday.
Ms 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” and that some of the charges “strike at the heart of a cohesive society”. She also referred to the illegal aboriginal squatter camp where the alleged incident took place as a “sacred site”.
“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 Matthew Hopkin’s argument that this amounted to a political attack on his client.
She said Mr Sewell was “not charged with offences for holding certain political views … it relates to charges of unlawful and violent conduct”, there were no bail conditions that could reduce the risk he allegedly posed to the community, and the prosecution case was “strong” and backed up by video evidence.
Mr Hopkins, from Paladin Lawyers, argued that the case could run for 12 months before being heard which would exceed a future sentence, and told the court witness statements had only been taken from alleged victims.
“It’s quite evident that Mr Sewell has been overcharged and we would submit that a lot of these charges would be ordered into a narrower field,” he said.
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”.
Six other men have been charged over the alleged National Socialist Network (NSN) attack on so-called so-called Camp Sovereignty – an illegal squatter encampment occupied by radical anti-Australian indigenous activists, including NSN member Nathan Bull.
Mr Bull, 23, was violently arrested alongside Mr Sewell on Tuesday, had his phone seized, and was granted bail with strict conditions. He was also hit with three charges for allegedly booing the “welcome to country” at the Anzac Day Dawn Service at the Shrine of Remembrance.
On Wednesday police prosecutor Jonathon McCarthy made a submission to Ms Bakos that the “strongest argument” to refuse Mr Sewell bail was that he possessed “racially motivated ideologies”.
He told the court Mr Sewell was a “member of a racially motivated organisation that uses that ideology to commit offences”, and that if Mr Sewell does not “disavow” his ideology the magistrate could refuse him bail.
But Mr Sewell’s lawyer Matthew Hopkins, from Paladin Lawyers, said his client should not have to disavow his political beliefs, had an implied right to political communication under the Constitution, and said the prosecution seemed to be “upset” by Mr Sewell’s views.
He also told the court the prosecution had submitted no evidence of a racially motivated ideology, and that it was not a crime to hold political opinions.
“I do note for many, many decades in this country there was a White Australia Policy,” Mr Hopkins said.
“[There is] an implied right to defend one’s political views.
“The prosecution evidence is really intertwined with what seems to be a political attack on Mr Sewell.”
Detective Senior Constable Saer Pascoe told the court the alleged “Camp Sovereignty” attack was “unprovoked”, but Mr Hopkins said evidence would be presented that it had been provoked by violent group assaults on March for Australia rally attendees and vandalism of their cars.
Header image: Left, Mr Sewell being arrested on Tuesday (Nine News). Right, during the alleged clash (supplied).
