<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>330535</docID> <postdate>2024-10-09 11:56:46</postdate> <headline>Jail time awaits neo-Nazi who performed salute</headline> <body><p><img class="size-full wp-image-330536" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/20241009140264352240-original-resized.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="600" /></p> <caption>Thomas Sewell carried a Friedrich Nietzsche book as he accompanied Jacob Hersant into court. (Joel Carrett/AAP PHOTOS)</caption> <p><span class="kicker-line">By <strong>Tara Cosoleto</strong> in Melbourne</span></p> <p><strong>A neo-Nazi is facing time behind bars after becoming the first Victorian convicted of performing the Nazi salute in public. </strong></p> <p>Jacob Hersant, 25, remained expressionless on Wednesday morning as Magistrate Brett Sonnet indicated he would give him a "relatively modest" jail term.</p> <p>He was supported in court by his mother and fellow neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell who carried a copy of Friedrich Nietzsche's On the Genealogy of Morals, a book popular with the far-right.</p> <p>Hersant was on Tuesday found guilty of intentionally performing the salute on October 27, 2023, about six days after Victorian laws banning the gesture came into effect.</p> <p>Video played in court showed Hersant raising his arm to salute in front of journalists and camera crews outside the County Court.</p> <p>He was then captured saying "nearly did it – it's illegal now" and "Australia for the white man, heil Hitler", before walking away.</p> <p>Hersant's barrister Tim Smartt told the court his client was a far better person than the behaviour demonstrated in the video.</p> <p>Hersant was a family man and full-time carer of his two-year-old son while he was unemployed, Mr Smartt said.</p> <p>The 25-year-old also won a poetry competition in the US, which Mr Smartt said was not connected to Nazi ideology.</p> <p>The barrister submitted Hersant was a young person who was on track towards rehabilitation, and the offending was at the lower end of seriousness so a $1500 fine was within range.</p> <p>But prosecutor Daniel Gurvich KC pushed for jail time, saying Hersant's salute and comments outside court had vilified minority groups.</p> <p>"It has no place in Victoria," the prosecutor said.</p> <p>Mr Gurvich said Hersant was "calculated" and wanted to "achieve maximum impact" when performed the Nazi gesture in front of waiting media in October 2023.</p> <p>The prosecutor also noted comments Hersant made to journalists on Tuesday, when he stated "loudly and clearly" he would continue to perform the salute away from the police.</p> <p>Hersant's prospects of rehabilitation were poor to non-existent so a jail term was within range, Mr Gurvich said.</p> <p>Mr Sonnet agreed, finding prison was the only appropriate sentence.</p> <p>The magistrate noted there had been no guilty plea, or signs of remorse, and Hersant had relevant prior convictions.</p> <p>But Mr Sonnet made clear he was punishing Hersant for breaking the law rather than his extremist views.</p> <p>"He's entitled to hold those views despite how unpalatable and offensive they are to others," the magistrate said.</p> <p>Mr Sonnet wanted to remand Hersant in custody immediately while he considered the length of the jail term, but Mr Smartt argued he should be released on appeal bail.</p> <p>The case was adjourned to 2pm on Wednesday to give Mr Smartt time to consider his submissions.</p> <p>Hersant, flanked by Sewell, declined to comment to reporters as he left court.</p> </body>