Australian police say they will return posters depicting politicians as Nazis that they seized from a Canberra bar under new hate crime laws.
Officers declared a crime scene at the Dissent Cafe and Bar and took away the posters on February 18 after someone complained about possible hate crime imagery.
Police for the Australian Capital Territory say they took the posters in line with laws outlawing “prohibited symbols.”
But after further assessment, they determined the posters did not meet some “aspects” of the legislation, they say in a statement.
“As such, criminal proceedings will not occur,” the territory’s police say. “The posters will be returned to the owner in due course and this matter finalized.”
Under hate crime legislation passed after a deadly antisemitic mass shooting at a Bondi Beach Hanukkah celebration on December 14, it is an offense to display Nazi and other hate symbols or to make the Nazi salute.
However, the law gives an exception for symbols shown for a “legitimate purpose,” including artistic, literary, religious, academic and educational reasons.
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