Image: Daniel Tadevosyan, Shutterstock
Two men have been charged after allegedly displaying a flag emblazoned with a swastika in Kings Cross, only moments away from the Sydney Jewish Museum.
Police were called to Darlo Bar on Liverpool Street at 4:30pm on Thursday after reports a man was displaying a flag with the Nazi symbol on it.
Darlo Bar is less than 150 metres from the Sydney Jewish Museum.
Police say they arrested two men, aged 51 and 44, who were taken to Kings Cross Police Station.
The flag and several electronic devices were seized by police.
In a statement made on Friday morning, police said the men were charged with “knowingly display by public act Nazi symbol without excuse”.
They were refused bail and are expected to appear at the Downing Centre Local Court on Friday.
New South Wales has seen increased incidents of racism across the state, specifically a concentration of arson attacks and antisemitic graffiti in Sydney.
Hate speech laws expanded this week
On Thursday, the New South Wales government announced new legislation to address racial hatred, with Chris Minns labelling acts the increased acts of antisemitism and racial hatred “disgusting”.
“These laws have been drafted in response to the horrifying antisemitic violence in our community but it’s important to note that they will apply to anyone, preying on any person, of any religion,” he said yesterday.
Displays of Nazi symbols on or near a synagogue would become an offence under these laws, also carrying a maximum penalty of two years in prison. This involves an amendment to the Graffiti Control Act, which will see graffiti on a place of worship become an aggravated offence.
However, the government is facing criticism from human and civil rights groups, who are citing concerns around the lack of protection for LGBTQIA+ groups, and expanded restrictions on protest.
Minns admitted that he didn’t have time to make extensive changes to anti-vilification legislation, and moved to only outlaw intentionally incited rase-base hate to quickly address rising levels of antisemitism in Sydney.
“We were faced with a situation where we’re looking at naked racism on our streets today,” he said.
“I made a decision that I wanted to progress the hate speech laws as it applies to race immediately.”
You May Also Like
Leave a Reply