On July 3, the Aussie Battler, Mike Holt of Queensland will stand trial in the Melbourne County Court, charged with publishing an article in contravention of a Supreme Court Suppression Order.

Mike Holt

This bogus charge has been used to terrorize Mike and his family for more than three years, with threats of imprisonment, theft of his personal property by the AFP, coercion, kidnapping and six days in jail without a trial.

The behaviour of the judicial system, the AFP and the Commonwealth Department of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) throughout this saga has been shameful.

Mike has told the magistrates, judges, the CDPP and the AFP that they are acting unconstitutionally, even as they handcuffed him outside his home, yet they have ignored him and treated him like a criminal instead.

He pointed out to them that our Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1901 states in “Section 80, 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.”

But a judge in Victoria decided in September last year, when Mike refused to turn up for a trial, that he has the power to overrule the constitution. The judge deliberately broke the law and ordered the AFP to travel to Queensland to arrest Mike. He was handcuffed, kidnapped, transported across state lines, and thrown into jail, all on the whim of a judge who was too poorly educated in the law to understand the very clear words of our constitution. Instead, he cited a previous Victorian court decision to justify his own error in law.

As Mike has told them many times, the Constitution is the highest law in the land, and this is mandated by section 109 which states, “When a law of a State is inconsistent with a law of the Commonwealth, the latter shall prevail, and the former shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be invalid.” And Constitution Clause 5 binds all judges, magistrates and people of the Commonwealth to obey the Constitutional laws above any state laws. In other words, if the constitution says one thing, and a state law does not agree with the constitution, then we must obey the constitution.

So, why is Mike being put on trial for exercising his right to Freedom of Speech?

He published an article in Queensland about a Victorian court case. Mike says he is not denying that. But he says he did so in the sure knowledge that he had every right to do so. He pointed out that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Article 19 (2) protects our inalienable right to freedom of speech: “Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.”

Like the wording in our constitution, it is very clear. You cannot mistake its meaning. Everyone has an absolute right to freedom of information and freedom of speech.

Mike says that the prosecution case is extremely weak. “They have no proof I knew about a suppression order before I published the article. Nor was I shown a copy of the order by anyone from the court, the AFP or the Commonwealth Department of Public Prosecutions – the CDPP before I published the article. In fact, the first time I actually laid eyes on a copy of the order was in August last year when the CDPP emailed me a copy.”

Mike will self-represent, as he says every lawyer he has contacted, including a renowned Professor of Constitutional Law at a WA university, said they could not defend his constitutional rights. But Mike says he has prepared his case well. It is up to the prosecution, or Allegators as he calls them, to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. To do that, they have to prove mens rea; that is, they have to prove Mike knew beforehand about the suppression order and that he chose to ignore it. He is innocent, and he points out that the Allegators have not produced any evidence to back up their charge. He feels confident he can convince the jury to throw the case out.

Mike must pay his own expenses to get to Melbourne, as well as his accommodation, food and travel. He is a Vietnam veteran living on his pension, so he is asking for donations to help him cover his expenses. If you would like to support him in his fight for all our rights, go to his website at https://advance-australia.com.au/donate/

And if you can make it to the courtroom in Melbourne from the 3rd to the 7th, please turn up to show your support for his battle for truth and our Rights.

Watch Mike’s video appeal: