A man has been charged for allegedly displaying a Hezbollah flag during a pro-Palestine protest in Melbourne’s CBD in September.
The 36-year-old Ferntree Gully man was charged on Friday with publicly displaying the symbol of a prohibited terrorist organisation, the Australian federal police said.
He was summoned to appear at Melbourne magistrates court on 6 March. The offence carries a maximum penalty of 12 months in prison.
The protest was held on 29 September as part of a National Day of Action for Gaza, with the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network staging ongoing rallies across the country to condemn the escalating cycle of violence in the Middle East.
The rally followed news Israel’s military had killed Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in an airstrike. The attack was seen as a significant escalation in the conflict.
The AFP’s counter-terrorism and special investigation’s command in Victoria established Operation Ardvarna a few days after the Melbourne protest at the State Library of Victoria, to investigate nine complaints of prohibited symbols allegedly being displayed.
On Saturday, it said 13 individuals remained under investigation and that it expected further charges would be laid.
“More than 1,100 hours has been spent investigating this matter, including reviewing more than 100 hours of CCTV evidence and police body-worn camera footage and progressing the analysis of information collected during an AFP week of action in October,” the AFP’s counter-terrorism commander Nick Read said.
“While it is important the AFP provides community reassurance and deterrence through education, action is the greatest deterrence.”
Read said three search warrants had been executed against three people and a further three people had been spoken to by investigators, while a number of mobiles had been seized, as well as “an item of clothing depicting a prohibited terrorist organisation symbol”.
Hezbollah was designated as a terrorist organisation by the commonwealth government in December 2021.
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Federal legislation introduced in January 2024 prohibited the display of Nazi and terrorist organisation symbols, which the AFP says includes the Hezbollah flag.
Shortly after the national day of action, the AFP’s deputy commissioner for national security Krissy Barrett told ABC radio that “a number of elements in the legislation … need to be met for a successful prosecution”.
A successful prosecution needs to prove a symbol is a terrorist organisation’s, and that a “reasonable person would consider that the conduct … advocates inciting others to use violence or use force, [or] could incite others to humiliate, intimidate based on race or religion”, she said.
A week later, protesters took to the streets across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, a day before the first anniversary of the 7 October attacks by Hamas in southern Israel. LED screens in Sydney told people not to fly Hezbollah flags or imagery displaying Nasrallah.
The rallies formed part of weekly demonstrations across Australia’s capital cities, which have been ongoing since October 2023 and have largely remained peaceful.
