It might go to the High Court:
https://au.news.yahoo.com/first-australian-jailed-nazi-salute-053528226.htmlWed 4 February 2026 at 5:27 pm AEDT
First Australian jailed for Nazi salute.
Hersant returned to the County Court on Wednesday afternoon for a plea hearing and sentencing.
His barrister, Tim Smartt, urged Judge Moglia to not sentence his client to jail, described in references to the court as a “wonderful father” to his three-year-old son.
Mr Smartt said Hersant retains the support of his parents, despite them both disagreeing with his political views.
“People are far better than their very worst deeds,” Mr Smartt said.
“(Hersant is a) far better person than the 10 minutes on that video.”
Mr Smartt argued Hersant had been “provoked” by the presence of the media outside court, but conceded the salute was done with a degree of hubris or arrogance after having received a lenient sentence.
The court was told there had been 18 cases across Australia for performing illegal Nazi salutes, with none resulting in a jail sentence.
Mr Smartt pointed to several of these; including outside a synagogue on the Gold Coast, outside a Jewish museum and in a Perth bar, that had resulted in sentences less than jail.
“It is by far the most severe sentence in Australia,” he said of Hersant’s sentence.
“You can’t jail your way into social cohesion, these people aren’t going to change their views on a sentence in this case.”
Daniel Gurvich KC, for the Crown, argued Hersant’s offending was done in a calculated fashion to achieve maximum impact and demonstrated “disdain for the law”.
Sentencing Hersant, Judge Moglia said the salute was performed with the full appreciation of it being unlawful and in the context of him having just been sentenced for a “most terrifying” and “violent” incident.
“I accept he relished that opportunity ... with the full knowledge it was being done not simply in the presence of a few people but in the presence of the wider community in a realistic way,” the judge said.
Judge Moglia described the context as “contemptuous” and designed to send a “chilling message to the community”.
Hersant was sentenced to one month in jail and fined $1000 for breaching a community corrections order by performing the salute.
He has repeatedly described himself a Nazi and was a leading figure in the National Socialist Network until the neo-Nazi group claims to have disbanded last month to avoid the federal government’s new hate group legislation.
Hersant has flagged his intention to appeal the case to the High Court.
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