Police drop case against artist who depicted high-profile Australians in uniforms with Nazi symbols

Key Takeaways

• Police charged an artist who depicted prominent Australians in military uniforms emblazoned with Nazi symbols despite internal legal advice the images were “political satire”, a court has heard.
• Police dropped the case against Michael Agzarian before the Downing Centre local court on Friday, almost a year after he had been charged with one count of displaying Nazi symbols by a public act without lawful excuse.
• Agzarian had displayed a poster on his shopfront window in Wagga Wagga ahead of last year’s federal election.
• The poster featured his local MP, Michael McCormack, the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, and mining magnates Gina Rinehart and Clive Palmer in the second world war German army uniforms, the court heard.
• The court had heard the artwork was adapted from an image from the US sitcom Hogan’s Heroes.