Mary Kostakidis and her legal team have formally requested for parts of her lawsuit surrounding her posts sharing a speech from the now deceased Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, to be struck out on the grounds it falls into the bounds of journalism.
The Greek Australian has been engrossed in a lawsuit made against her by Alon Cassuto, CEO of the Zionist Federation of Australia, over comments and posts she shared on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
The ZFA CEO alleged that posts made by Kostakidis on 4 and 13 January, 2024, which featured comments from Nasrallah were in breach of the Racial Discrimination Act as, according to his application, they were “reasonably likely in all the circumstances to offend, insult, humiliate and/or intimidate Australian Jews and/or Israelis in Australia”.
Cassuto initially filed a complaint against the former SBS newsreader to the Australian Human Rights Commission last July, lodging it under section 18C of Racial Discrimination Act 1975, which concerns offensive behaviour “because of race, colour or national or ethnic origin” in Australia.
Following the AHRC conciliation process having been terminated without any resolution, the Zionist Federation had 60 days to take the matter to the higher authority which they did by filing legal action against Kostakidis with the Federal Court of Australia.
The matter returned to the Federal Court in Adelaide this week, where Kostakidis’s legal team sought to have an amended claim, which forms the basis of the case, struck out.
In a statement provided to Neos Kosmos, Cassuto said the case is “not about free speech, it’s about hate speech”.
“I commenced this action to hold Mary Kostakidis to account for sharing the call of a proscribed terrorist organisation, Hezbollah, for the ethnic cleansing of Jews and Israelis ‘from the river to the sea’.
It is deeply offensive, irresponsible and dangerous when someone with the influence and authority of Mary Kostakidis shares such hate speech.
This conduct reproduces an overseas conflict in Australia. We have all seen how hatred that starts with words, ends in violence.
For the sake of every Australian, we must stand up against racial hatred, no matter who is being targeted, and no matter who is spreading it.
The Court has reserved judgment on the strikeout application. I respect the Court and its processes and will not comment on the hearing yesterday.”
Kostakidis has maintained from the beginning that she has meant no hurt through her reporting on the ongoing situation in Gaza, having stated in a previous social media post:
“To the Jews and/or Israelis in Australia who took my posts as an endorsement, I am sorry for their hurt, distress and pain.”
Neos Kosmos has approached Kostakidis’ legal team for comment, who have confirmed their intention to provide a statement regarding the latest development in the lawsuit.
Their comments will be included once it has been provided.
