Banning Possession of Nazi, ISIS Flags ‘Overkill’: Australian Law Council

Italian police handout shows a sticker with the symbol of the 'Italian National Socialist Workers' Party' that they say was seized in searches of properties of an extremist group who planned to create a new Nazi party, in an unidentified location in Italy in a picture released on Nov. 28, 2019. Polizia di Stato/Handout via Reuters

The Law Council of Australia is warning against criminalising the possession of extremist memorabilia, calling it overkill and saying it would have “unintended consequences.”

Richard Wilson SC, the co-chair of the Council’s National Criminal Law Committee, was responding to comments yesterday by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) calling for new laws to address gaps in the monitoring of extremist activity.