Bendigo mosque Facebook administrator loses VCAT battle to have identity suppressed
Updated
A Bendigo woman behind the Stop the Mosque Facebook page has lost her bid to have her identity suppressed in a Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) appeal against the planning approval of a mosque in the town.
Monika Evers sought the protection because of safety fears, which she said included online death threats.
Ms Evers cried in the stand as advocate Andrew Moyle said she feared for her safety.
"The biggest thing is fear for her safety and that fear has taken a toll on her mental and physical wellbeing," Mr Moyle said.
The court heard the alleged threats to her safety have led to Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, the Australian Federal Police and Victoria Police checking in on her a number of times.
Ms Evers said she was not a racist.
"I don't want to be tarred with a racist, bigot, hate brush because that's not true," Ms Evers said.
But VCAT rejected the suppression application, saying there was a lack of credible information to support Ms Evers's safety threat claims.
Ms Evers was led from court under police guard, while attempting to hide her identity.
There are still two other appeals against the mosque being disputed on planning grounds in VCAT.
Topics: religion-and-beliefs, islam, community-and-society, urban-development-and-planning, local-government, bendigo-3550
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