Incitement charges dropped against anti-lockdown activist Monica Smit

An anti-lockdown crusader will “open a bottle of Champagne” after incitement charges against her were dropped for one key reason.

Anti-lockdown ringleader Monica Smit who was accused of inciting others to protest amid Covid restrictions has had her charges dropped.

Earlier this year, Ms Smit, 33, pleaded not guilty to two counts of incitement for allegedly encouraging people on social media to attend two anti-lockdown protests in Melbourne last year.

She was committed to stand trial at the County Court but on Tuesday prosecutors filed a notice of discontinuance after deciding it was no longer in the “public interest” to continue proceedings.

During a brief administrative hearing on Thursday, the charges were formally withdrawn.

Ms Smit said she would “open a bottle of champagne” to celebrate the Director of Public Prosecutions’ decision to drop the charges.

“This is fantastic news,” she said in a video posted on YouTube.

“I can open a bottle of champagne. It’s 12 o’clock in the afternoon. I don’t care.”

With her bail conditions removed, Ms Smit said: “I can travel, I can do whatever I want”.

Ms Smit, who founded anti-vax group Reignite Democracy Australia, filmed her own arrest in September last year.

She spent 22 days in custody after refusing to comply with a series of “onerous” bail conditions, which the Victorian Supreme Court later scrapped.

Ms Smit, who was until recently living with her parents, and is now engaged to fellow anti-lockdown leader Morgan Jonas, was also charged with contravening the chief health officers’ directions.

She said she had spent “hundreds of thousands” of dollars from donors to defend the charges and had “plans” for the remaining donations.

The prominent anti-vaxxer also claimed she had recently launched a “brand” that would serve as a rival to the World Health Organisation and the World Economic Forum.

She will return to Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on August 1 for an application hearing.