Despite prosecutors in Victoria seeking a prison term for the first person to be found guilty of performing a Nazi salute after it became illegal, they say they will not bring case to court.
In October, when 25-year-old Jacob Hersant was found guilty of the offence, the Office of Public Prosecutions (OPP) pushed for a custodial sentence saying his action had vilified minority groups and had “no place in Victoria.”
The magistrate subsequently agreed and sentenced Hersant to a month in jail, but he was freed on bail pending an appeal.
But a 65-year-old female veteran police sergeant, who allegedly made the same gesture twice on subsequent days at the Victoria Police Academy at Glen Waverley, in Melbourne’s southeast, will not face court after the OPP said it had examined the brief of evidence sent by Victoria Police but decided not to lay charges.
“We have since received advice from OPP that, based on the circumstances, there is no reasonable prospect of conviction,” police said in a brief statement.
“This ends the criminal component of the investigation, and the sergeant will now be subject to an internal discipline investigation.
“The police officer continues to be suspended while the internal discipline investigation process proceeds.”
The sergeant is an instructor at the family violence centre and was accused of approaching two other police employees and performing the salute, as well as saying “Heil Hitler.” She then allegedly made the same gesture and uttered the same words at a debriefing with a recruit squad and another instructor the following day.
She was suspended with pay and interviewed by Professional Standards Command detectives.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton called the alleged action “abhorrent” and said it had no place in society or the state’s police force.
“The motive doesn’t matter,” he said. “The conduct should not, cannot and will not be tolerated, and it just shouldn’t have occurred.”
He apologised to the Jewish and broader community, saying many would undoubtedly feel let down by the officer’s purported behaviour.
“It lets down our reputation,” he said. “It disappointed me, it made me angry.”
In Victoria, performing the Nazi salute in public can carry a sentence of up to 12 months in prison and/or a $23,000 fine if proven.
In October, three construction workers who argued that their performing of the Nazi salute outside the Sydney Jewish Museum were a joke were nonetheless fined between $500 and $1,500. The magistrate said the matter was “not a trivial offence” and that if she had found their actions were planned, she would have considered their crimes much more serious.
Several other people have been convicted of the offence and received fines since state and federal governments banned Nazi symbols and gestures following concerns of rising anti-Semitism.
