Former Merri-bek councillor Milad El-Halabi pleads guilty to tampering with local elections in County Court

A disgraced Labor-endorsed councillor who tampered with a local election has begged to avoid conviction so he can still get a gun to “protect his farm”.

A disgraced Labor-endorsed councillor who tampered with a local election begged to avoid conviction so he could still get a gun to “protect his farm”.

Former Merri-bek city councillor Milad El-Halabi, 60, fronted the County Court on Thursday, wearing a grey blazer and dark grey jeans.

He pleaded guilty to one rolled-up charge of “tampering” with Merri-bek’s local government elections in 2020.

The allegations stemmed from probes by the Victorian Electoral Commission and the fraud squad into a number of “suspect ballots”, which had been removed from letterboxes and cast by post.

Milad El-Halabi Labor candidate for Moreland City Council.

The commission was prompted to investigate when voters queried why they had not received ballot papers in the post — only for checks to reveal their completed ballots had already been cast.

Police found El-Halabi’s fingerprints on missing ballot papers.

El-Halabi was endorsed by the Labor Party at the time.

On Thursday, El-Halabi’s defence lawyer Robert Richter asked the court to consider a non-conviction sentence so his client could obtain a firearm license because he needed to “protect his farm”.

“He works on the farm with his son … a non-conviction disposition would signify he is not an unfit person to have a firearms license for the purpose of protecting the farm,” he said.

Mr Richter asked the court to be “merciful” and said a non-conviction sentence was paramount for the ex-mayor’s “future”.

“(Non-conviction) will allow this man to walk away without a mark on his forehead and to justify the rest of his honourable life,” he said.

Former Merri-bek councillor Milad El-Halabi leaves the County Court after pleading guilty to tampering with the 2020 local government elections. Picture: Himangi Singh.

Crown prosecutor Justin Lewis said they “resisted” a non-conviction sentence.

Mr Lewis said El-Halabi’s offending attacked democracy, which warranted imprisonment or a significant community corrections order.

The court heard El-Halabi had an “unblemished” criminal record with no prior convictions and the 60-year-old’s health was “ailing”.

Mr Richter said his client needed a colonoscopy every six months and he also had serious complications with his liver.

Milad El-Halibi

Judge Stewart Bayles told El-Halabi his offending had the potential to destroy public confidence in the democratic system.

“Tampering strikes at the heart of the democratic process and undermines the fate in that process,” he said.

The court heard El-Halabi, who is also a builder, moved to Australia from Lebanon at the age of 25 after his home country was “reduced to a ruined state because of internal conflict and war”.

Judge Bayles considered the defence and prosecution submissions but ultimately said a conviction was “necessary”.

El-Halabi was convicted and fined $20,000 with a $2000 bond, and put on a community corrections order for 18 months.