The Melbourne County Court has proceeded with the arrest of Mike Holt yesterday. This, despite his lawyers painting a very clear picture of his fundamental rights and pointing out the fact they have no jurisdiction in Queensland.
He was arrested early yesterday by the Federal Police on a charge of breaking a suppression order on a court hearing down in Melbourne despite the fact that Section 80 of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, states the following:
“The trial on indictment of any offence against any law of the Commonwealth shall be by jury, and every such trial shall be held in the State where the offence was committed, and if the offence was not committed within any State the trial shall be held at such place or places as the Parliament prescribes.”
Indeed, on August 2, 2021, Judge Sarah Dawes in the Victoria County Court confirmed that the Victorian Courts “…have no jurisdiction in Queensland.”
She went on to say., “The problem I see is that under Section 106 of the Constitution, no one in Victoria had the right to remove the Constitution of Victoria in 1975 and replace it and still comply with Section 106.”
You can read the chronology of this farce and Mike’s interaction with the Court byclicking here. (https://earth.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=a333db96c526b1dfcbb6c6606&id=2c98ec5a70&e=77ed113aa9)
As I write this, he is in the Maroochydore lock-up and, despite his medical exemption from flying, will be flown to Melbourne in the morning to face the court on Friday. The lock-up has no showers and Mike was not allowed to bring any personal effects on his arrest – not even a toothbrush.
I went to the lock-up today to try and get some comments from the police and try and get to Mike but the door was barred and no visitors are allowed. Mike’s wife has put together an overnight bag for him and will try and get that to him at least but even that may not be allowed. In other words, an Australian man is being caged like an animal and, to this point, his personal needs have not provided for.
As I understand it, the fundamental rule of law at play here is one of freedom of speech. Apparently, Mike had made a Facebook post that contravened a suppression order he wasn’t even aware existed at the time. He removed the post immediately he knew about the order but this was not good enough for them – and the witch hunt has proceeded.
If everything Mike has said on this matter is true [and I don’t doubt they are] these are the typical actions of a totalitarian state. This matches the comments made by a lady I met at a party on the weekend who claimed Australia is now an “open air prison”.
It’s all rather frightening and must give any of us pause. But here’s the thing, this kind of inhuman, unlawful and immoral activity is just the beginning. If we don’t find a place to take a stand, this will get worse and worse and history shows us the ultimate end will human rights abuses of the most appalling kind.
Mike has heroically decided to take his stand. Let’s give him our full support on every level but most of all, let us all be inspired by his courage. Every totalitarian state that ever existed always turned out to be a house of cards that crumbled into oblivion once confronted by its people. If ever there was a time for each of us to stand up – today is the day.
Please take action:
Email the following people and voice your objection to Mike’s arrest and let them know they are not dealing with a sole individual but that he has the support of nearly 70 Common Law Assemblies across Australia and New Zealand.
Grace Krütsch
Acting Principal Federal Prosecutor
Organised Crime and National Security
Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions
Mobile: 0437 133 140
Direct line: 03 9605 4371
grace.krutsch@cdpp.gov.au
Aneta Peretko
Senior Federal Prosecutor
Organised Crime and Counter Terrorism
Commonwealth Director of Public
Prosecutions
Direct line 03 9605 4340
Mobile 0428 057 940
Fax 03 9670 4295
Aneta.Peretko@cdpp.gov.au