A 37-year-old man has been charged following an alleged attack at an Islamic dinner in the regional Victorian city of Ballarat earlier this year.
Police allege the man entered a venue on Donegal Drive in Alfredton about 9:25pm on March 8 before making abusive remarks and assaulting people.
The man was then detained by people at the venue until police arrived.
The Alfredton man was charged with making threats to kill, threatening physical harm on the grounds of a protected attribute, assaulting people attending religious assembly, unlawful assault and disturbing a religious assembly.
Police said no physical injuries had been reported.
The charge of threatening physical harm on ground of protected attribute relates to new vilification laws introduced by the Victorian government in September last year, making it illegal to incite or threaten based on certain attributes such as race, gender identity or sex.
The man is due to appear at the Ballarat Magistrates’ Court in September.
‘Positive outcome’
The charges have taken four months to be handed down, which previously sparked outrage among the Islamic community.
Iftar dinner organiser Oosman Abdul Kader said it had taken a long time to get to this point but he was happy things are moving in the right direction.
“It will be a test for the new anti-hate laws that are being introduced and we have full confidence in the courts to serve justice on this,” Mr Abdul Kader said.
He said police had not been in contact with the group yet and they were still figuring out what the charges meant.
“We have been having email communications, but the last correspondence [with police] was around three weeks ago,” he said.
“[The charges] were not a shock, it was something we expected.
“I’m so happy to see that it has finally happened and looking forward to a positive outcome.”