Councillor Jane Agirtan allegedly breaches court order by doxing lawyer
A Melbourne lawyer has hauled a Kingston councillor to court for allegedly making disparaging comments against her on social media that caused her distress.
South East
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A Melbourne lawyer has hauled a councillor to court for allegedly making disparaging comments against her on social media, and calling on her followers to do the same.
Kingston councillor Jane Agirtan allegedly breached a personal safety intervention order by not deleting alleged defamatory posts against a Melbourne lawyer on social media.
Lawyer Emily Rothfield applied to the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court for her details, including her name and that of her workplace to be suppressed, claiming she had received threats and abusive posts following Ms Agirtan’s social media postings.
The court granted an interim personal safety intervention order to Ms Rothfield on November 10, 2024.
Ms Agirtan, the independent member for Chiquita Ward, was charged with breaching that order in February when she allegedly called on her followers to contact the “pitiful and pathologically-obsessed individual who has harassed me for years”.
Magistrate James Fitzgerald declined the lawyer’s application for suppression on Monday, saying claims of threats to safety by Ms Rothfield needed to be backed by evidence.
The court allowed an unidentified spokeswoman of Ms Rothfield to make submissions on her behalf while the police and Ms Agirtan opposed an application for suppression.
The spokeswoman alleged not only did the councillor dox Ms Rothfield, but she encouraged, instructed and exhorted her online followers to contact the lawyer on three separate occasions and that the response was overwhelming.
The spokeswoman alleged rather than deleting the posts, Ms Argitan changed them while Ms Rothfield continued to be stalked and coerced.
When asked by Mr Fitzgerald whether she had proof the lawyer had been stalked and coerced, she said there was no evidence of any “in-person approaches”.
As a result of her doxing, she said Ms Rothfield had taken down her social media accounts and submitted printouts in court of Ms Argitan’s social media postings as well as relevant case laws that supported suppression orders in similar cases.
The councillor will front the Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court on June 20 for mention.
