Police investigating 14 people over displays of terrorist symbols
The Australian Federal Police is investigating 14 people for displaying terrorist symbols at a pro-Palestinian protest, while it launches a separate probe into whether Australians’ commentary about events in the Middle East has crossed legal lines.
Deputy commissioner Ian McCartney revealed the investigations to a Senate estimates hearing on Tuesday, just over a month after the waving of Hezbollah flags and vigils glorifying slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah reignited political debate about free speech and appropriate protest in Australia.
A Hezbollah flag was displayed at a Melbourne rally in Melbourne.Credit: AAP
McCartney said the AFP had spent 1100 hours investigating, including reviewing 90 hours of CCTV footage, after Victoria Police reported several matters to the federal agency following a pro-Palestinian protest in Melbourne in September.
As of this week, he said 14 people were under investigation for displaying prohibited terrorist symbols in public. Three search warrants had been executed against three people, a further three had been spoken to, and several mobile phones had been seized.
“If relevant thresholds are met, the AFP will provide briefs of evidence to the Commonwealth director of public prosecutions to determine if charges will be laid,” he said.
“I can reveal we are also investigating whether some discourse relating to deceased terrorists, or events in the Middle East, has reached the threshold of urging violence against groups or advocating terrorism.”
Political debate over pro-Palestinian protests erupted in the lead-up to the one-year anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, as Labor and Coalition MPs demanded action under new laws that ban the display of terrorism symbols if they are used to spread hate, intimidate or incite violence.
AFP boss Reece Kershaw told 2GB’s Ray Hadley that Hezbollah flag waving at protests after Israel assassinated Nasrallah had been against the law and officers would take action. Australia has designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation since 2021.
Prosecutions would represent a high-profile national test case for the laws. NSW Police last month charged a 19-year-old woman with displaying a terrorist organisation symbol at a September 29 protest in Sydney. She entered a not-guilty plea and her case returns to court in December.
McCartney said the AFP had not diverted resources from terrorism investigations, and that 10 counter-terrorism operations this year had led to charges against 15 people. Eleven of them were under 17 years old, and many were radicalised online.
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