A retired father-of-six who moved from Argentina to Australia 30 years ago has been granted bail after allegedly giving a Nazi salute in a busy pub.
Norberto Trimestra, 68, was arrested at the Criterion Hotel on Pitt Street in Sydney’s CBD on Friday after security guards spotted police refusing to leave at around 7.10pm.
Trimestra, from Carlingford in Sydney’s northwest, worked as an electrical engineer before retiring in 2023 and now describes himself on social media as an online journalist, the Daily Telegraph reports.
A Facebook account belonging to Treimestra is full of posts about politics and history, especially regarding his native Argentina.
On another social media account, he describes himself as “a journalist who invents new forms of democratic government.”
Treimestra has been charged with knowingly displaying a Nazi symbol in public without excuse, making a gesture in a public place that is a Nazi salute and failing to leave a premises when necessary.
He appeared in Parramatta District Court on Saturday, where he entered no plea and applied for bail – which was granted on the conditions that he does not drink alcohol, reports to police twice a week and does not live within 1km of the CBD comes.
The court was told Mr Trimestra had argued with officers before his arrest and police feared his behavior could escalate, but his lawyer told the court his client had no history of violent incidents or failure to comply with court conditions .
Norberto Trimestra (pictured), 68, was arrested at the Criterion Hotel on Pitt St in the Sydney CBD on Friday evening after security guards flagged down police at around 7.10pm.
The retired engineer reportedly gave a Nazi salute in the pub (pictured), refused to leave and then argued with police before being arrested
The court heard that Mr Trimestra had minor offenses in his criminal history, including driving offenses and previous offenses for failing to leave a licensed premises when asked.
His lawyer argued that there was no evidence of these violations other than being mentioned in police documents.
Mr Trimestra, who has three adult children in Sydney and three others in Argentina, is due to return to court on January 8.
In November, the guilty verdicts of two of the first people convicted under laws banning displays of Nazi symbolism were overturned after a judge ruled that their public salutes could not be definitively linked to the fascist German regime.
Three men were accused of performing the salute at CommBank Stadium in Parramatta in October 2022 during the Australia Cup final between Sydney United 58 and Macarthur FC.
Two convictions were overturned, but a judge upheld the guilty finding against the third man, who performed the salute seven times.
Another man will appear in Newtown District Court after he was accused of giving the salute after walking in front of a protest march and allegedly making threatening comments.