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In what was lauded as a win for freedom of political expression, proceedings filed against an SBS newsreader for social media posts about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have come to an end.
Under orders made by consent in the Federal Court of Australia on Friday, 11 September, the lawsuit filed by Alon Cassuto, chief executive of the Zionist Federation of Australia, against journalist Mary Kostakidis has been discontinued.
In a post on X, Kostakidis celebrated the end of the two-year legal battle by claiming it a win “for every Australian who values our democratic right of freedom of political expression”.
“Zionist zealotry has had to beat a retreat from what was going to be a highly damaging trial,” Kostakidis wrote.
On the other hand, Cassuto said his objectives in bringing the proceedings “have been substantially satisfied”.
“Kostakidis has publicly apologised for the hurt caused by her posts and has now seen evidence of Jewish Australians who were prepared to come to court and explain why her conduct mattered,” Cassuto said in a statement.
Cassuto alleged Kostakidis breached the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (RDA) by making two posts on X that linked to a speech by then-Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
In his originating application, Cassuto claimed Kostakidis engaged in conduct “that was reasonably likely to offend, insult, humiliate and/or intimidate him and other Jews and Israelis”, based on their race, or national or ethnic origin.
In addition to a declaration that Kostakidis breached the RDA, Cassuto sought an apology and an order for the 4 January and 13 January posts to be removed.
Kostakidis denied this and alleged the lawsuit was instituted “vexatiously, without reasonable cause and in bad faith”.
“I have spent two years doing nothing but preparing my defence in a case aimed at silencing me – a case that would have cost the average Australian their home,” Kostakidis said.
“The purpose of journalism is to get to the truth – fearlessly – and to hold power to account.
“This is a win for press freedom, which has prevailed.”
In his statement, Cassuto took issue with Kostakidis’ ongoing public commentary but said having the court order her to make a further apology would only “ring hollow”.
“I do not intend to spend another year taking Kostakidis’ repugnant commentary from the dark corners of the internet and giving it a Federal Court platform in her pursuit of martyrdom.
“My job here is done,” Cassuto said.
