Turner introduced himself and explained he was inquiring about an incident relating to displaying the Nazi symbol at the soccer match,adding that Sieben was not under arrest nor obliged to answer any questions.
Sieben said it was a long story but “the whole thing was disgusting,what was accused of me”.
“It had nothing to do with Nazis ... nothing to do with the Hitler crap or any of that crap ... it was blown out of proportion so much,” he said.
He told Turner he had a beer in one hand and his other hand was up in the air at the very moment the camera panned towards him,which “twisted the entire thing … it made me look like something I’m not”.
Sieben,who said he was Croatian,told police he was simply cheering on Sydney United,but couldn’t chant with both hands.
Sydney United 58 FC is based in Edensor Park in Sydney’s west,and was formed by Croatian Australians as Sydney Croatia in 1958. In 1993,it was renamed Sydney United after briefly having the name Sydney CSC.
In the body-worn footage,Sieben told Turner that,when he saw his face on the news,he spoke to a lawyer about suing the media but was deterred by the cost and the fact a defamation case would attract more publicity.
“My friends know I’m not like that;they know my personality ... It[having more publicity] would ruin my business,my name … What’s the point of going to sue all these channels for it just to be brought up in the media again?”
Sieben said he would never go to a soccer game again even though he loved the sport.
“I went to a good Catholic school[and learnt] about Jesus and stuff … to paint me as some Nazi is completely untrue,” he said.
Sieben told Turner he had several Jewish friends,who “literally laughed” when he showed them the edited footage.
A police prosecutor told the court Lisica wore army camouflage and was seen doing the Nazi salute in CCTV footage,not on TV.
The court heard Gasparovic carried a “World War II era Nazi” flag at the match.
The court was told a man shown in CCTV footage played to the hearing was Sieben. About 7.30pm,the man was seen wearing a white and red chequered shirt,with a Sydney United flag wrapped around his neck. He appeared to raise his hand in the air in a straight line with his palm facing down,before lowering his arm again. The footage then showed security guards walk up and speak to the man.
The court was then shown separate CCTV footage that allegedly showed Lisica make the Nazi salute.
Before the first day of the hearing wrapped up,footage of Gasparovic’s interview inside a police station was played.
Gasparovic admitted to putting his hand in the air,and answered a series of questions in which he agreed the Nazi salute was hateful and prejudicial towards a group of people,but denied knowingly making the hate symbol.
He told police he was celebrating the team and Croatian culture.
Central to determining all three men’s guilt,the court heard,was whether displaying the salute as alleged was displaying a Nazi symbol as described in the new legislation.
The Crown prosecutor submitted their actions did constitute a Nazi symbol and told magistrate Joy Boulos that,if she agreed,the other elements of the case would not be disputed.
Boulos said the judgment would come down to statutory interpretation.
The hearing continues.
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