MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — An Australian state government on Tuesday proposed new restrictions on protesters in response to rising antisemitism, including a ban on demonstrations outside places of worship.
Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan proposed the new laws after arsonists damaged a Melbourne synagogue this month and protestors kept fearful worshippers trapped inside a Sydney synagogue for three hours a week earlier.
“That’s not peaceful protest. It’s menacing behavior,” Allan said.
“Antisemitism is a cancer and we must leave no stone unturned to fight the evil of antisemitism, to fight the evil of this racism in all of its forms and also to continue to work to help heal our multicultural community, to help build on that social cohesion and continue to support our strong, united Victoria,” she added.
The new laws would protect the right of people to “gather and pray free from fear, harassment and intimidation,” her office said in a statement.
The proposed laws, which will be voted on by the state legislature early next year, would establish safe access areas around places of worship and prohibit disturbances of religious gatherings.
The laws would also ban protesters flying flags and displaying symbols of groups listed by Australia as terrorist organizations. Face masks used by protesters to conceal their identities and protect against capsicum spray would also be banned.
Anti-Defamation Commission chair Dvir Abramovich, a leading opponent of antisemitism in Australia, welcomed the proposed law.
“Today, the Victorian government has declared war on hate and antisemitism — and it’s about time,” Abramovich said in a statement.
“Victoria has drawn a line in the sand and sent a thunderous message to the hate-mongers, the graffiti cowards, the firebombers, and the social media trolls: Your days of terrorizing our communities are over,” he added.
The arson attack on Adass Israel Synagogue on Dec. 6 marked an escalation in targeted assaults in Australia since the war between Israel and the militant Hamas group started over a year ago in the Gaza Strip.
Authorities have declared it a terrorist act, which increases resources available to investigators.
A federal law passed in January banned the Nazi salute and the public display of Nazi symbols in response to growing antisemitism, and the government appointed special envoys this year to combat antisemitism and Islamophobia.
Australia is an increasingly multicultural society. The latest census in 2021 found that Australians born overseas or with a parent born overseas formed a majority for the first time.
A man reads messages left on the fence outside the fire damaged Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne, Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. (Con Chronis/AAP Image via AP)
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan speaks to media during a press conference, in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (Joel Carrett/AAP Image via AP)
WINONA. Minn. (AP) — A Minnesota man convicted of first-degree murder faces sentencing Tuesday for killing his girlfriend, whose 2023 disappearance after she dropped off their kids at daycare drew national attention and prompted thousands of volunteers to join the search for her.
A jury found Adam Fravel, 30, of Mabel, guilty in November. He was arrested in June 2023, days after deputies found the body of Madeline Kingsbury in a wooded area a few miles away from a property owned by Fravel’s parents.
The 26-year-old Kingsbury vanished in March 2023 after dropping off her and Fravel’s two young children at daycare in Winona, a southeastern Minnesota city of about 26,000 residents.
The trial was moved to Mankato, about 136 miles (219 kilometers) west of Winona, because of extensive pretrial publicity. Fravel will be sentenced back in Winona by District Judge Nancy Buytendorp. Premeditated first-degree murder, the most serious of the four counts on which he was convicted, carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison.
Police found Kingsbury’s body in a culvert along a gravel road, in a gray fitted bed sheet that had been closed with black Gorilla tape. Prosecutor Phil Prokopowicz said she was strangled with a towel and that a medical examiner concluded she likely died of asphyxiation. The towel, bedsheet and tape matched items found in their Winona home, Prokopowicz said during the trial.
Prokopowicz and witnesses said Kingsbury had been planning to leave Fravel for another man after becoming frustrated with his alleged abusive behavior and inadequate contributions to their family. He responded to those plans by killing her, the prosecutor said.
“The relationship was never about them,” Prokopowicz said in his closing statement. “It was always about him.”
Witnesses testified they had seen bruises on Kingsbury’s neck. In one instance, a friend said she was on a video call with Kingsbury when Fravel allegedly hit her. Another friend testified that Kingsbury told her Fravel had warned Kingsbury that she could end up like Gabby Petito, a woman who was killed by her boyfriend in a high-profile 2021 case.
Fravel did not testify in his own defense. His attorney, Zach Bauer, said in his closing argument that the case against Fravel relied on “tunnel vision, revisionist history and secret truths.” He contended that there was no sign of any physical struggle inside the couple’s home. He also pointed to testimony from a neighbor who claimed to have never heard the couple argue.
FILE -Winona Police Chief Tom Williams speaks to the media outside the Blue Earth County Justice Center after Adam Fravel was found guilty on all counts for the murder of Madeline Kingsbury, Nov. 7, 2024 in Mankato, Minn. (Hannah Yang/Minnesota Public Radio via AP, File)
FILE - Adam Fravel's defense attorney Zach Bauer expresses his disappoint in the outcome of his trial, Nov. 7, 2024 in Mankato, Minn. (Hannah Yang/Minnesota Public Radio via AP, File)
FILE - David Kingsbury, father of Madeline Kingsbury, expresses that while he's glad for the guilty verdict, it won't bring his daughter back, Nov. 7, 2024 in Mankato, Minn. (Hannah Yang/Minnesota Public Radio via AP, File)
FILE -David Kingsbury, the father of Madeline Kingsbury, addresses the press after the jury found Adam Fravel guilty of Madeline's murder on all counts at the Blue Earth County Justice Center, Nov. 7, 2024 in Mankato, Minn. (Hannah Yang/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)
FILE - This undated booking photo provided by the Winona County, Minn., Detention Center shows Adam Fravel. (Winona County Detention Center via AP, File)
FILE -After a three-week trial at the Blue Earth County Justice Center in Mankato, Minn. the jury found Adam Fravel guilty on all counts for the murder of Madeline Kingsbury on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (Hannah Yang/Minnesota Public Radio via AP, File)
