Jane Agirtan: Kingston Councillor faces court on criminal charges, flags bid to keep case suppressed
Councillor Jane Agirtan has faced Melbourne Magistrates Court on criminal charges.
South East
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Colourful Kingston Council member Jane Agirtan has fronted Melbourne Magistrates Court on criminal charges, and will ask a Magistrate to keep significant parts of her case secret from the voting public.
Cr Agirtan, the independent member for Chiquita Ward, appeared briefly in court on Tuesday.
In an unusual development, most of the minutes-long hearing was heard in closed court.
When the court was reopened her lawyers flagged making an application for a suppression order on the case when it returns to court in April.
Cr Argitan is charged with breaching a personal safety intervention order, but the precise details of the charge were unclear, because Magistrate Abagail Burchill refused requests from the Herald Sun and The Age newspapers for access to charge sheets.
It is unusual for such requests to be refused.
It is understood the matter stem from one of the often-heated online disputes Cr Agirtan involves herself in.
Cr Agirtan declined to comment.
When contacted, she said, “Oh, no, not today,” and hung up the phone.
She did not respond to subsequent written inquiries.
Cr Agirtan is yet to enter pleas, but the court on Tuesday heard Victoria Police would likely agree to her being dealt with under a diversion order.
The court heard there would also likely be an appliction related to the order Cr Artigan is alleged to have breached.
But most of the details about that anticipated application appeared to have been discussed during the closed portion of Tuesday’s hearing.
It remains unclear whether Cr Agirtan informed Kingston Council or Chief Municipal Inspector Michael Stefanovic of the allegations against her.
Kingston Council did not respond to specific questions about what Cr Agirtan had disclosed about her legal woes.
A council spokesman said he was aware Cr Agirtan had faced court, but would not say whether he only became aware of the case when told about it by the Herald Sun.
A spokeswoman for the Chief Municipal Inspector — who can initiate proceedings to have councillors stood down for serious misconduct — said it “treats all of its investigations with the strictest of confidence and as such, we cannot comment on this particular Councillor”.
Cr Agirtan last made headlines when she launched defamation proceedings in the County Court against commentator Clementine Ford, after Ms Ford described her as a “racist, transphobic cooker angling to be a politician”.
Cr Agirtan has asked for a public apology, removal of all posts that refer to her, legal costs and damages.
Ms Ford has repeatedly declined Cr Agirtan’s invitation to apologise.
Cr Agirtan’s criminal case returns to court in April.