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Fremantle council warns police about Waleed Aly hate mail

Waleed Aly is the co-host of Channel Ten's The Project.
Waleed Aly is the co-host of Channel Ten's The Project. 

The City of Fremantle is warning police about hoax fliers which appear to have been distributed ahead of broadcaster and Fairfax columnist Waleed Aly's appearance at the Fremantle Festival on Saturday.

Fremantle Mayor Brad Pettit told WAtoday he had seen an electronic version of the flier which labels Aly a "child molester".

"I first heard about this on Friday and we have let the police know about it. The event will go ahead as planned," he said.

The co-host of Channel Ten's The Project is due to make the keynote address at the Fremantle Festival on Saturday afternoon.

The flier claims to come from the group Socialist Alternative and says that they are "disillusioned members of Socialist Alliance, Fremantle."

Fremantle Councillor Sam Wainwright, a member of Socialist Alliance, said the flier was an attempt to smear Waleed Aly's name and at the same time associate Socialist Alliance with the false allegations.

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He believes the flier is the work of a far-right group.

"This is a disgraceful attack on Aly and many good people who stand up to racism wherever they find it. It's a toxic combination of hate, Islamophobia, racism and lies," he said.

Councillor Wainwright said he and other councillors first became aware of the flier when Fremantle's Federal MP Josh Wilson contacted him.

"A resident of East Fremantle had found the flier in their letter box and took a phone photo of it and forwarded it to Josh. That's how we all came to know about this," said the councillor.

The event with Mr Aly at the Fremantle Town Hall has been sold-out.

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