Far-Right Activist Avi Yemeni Withdraws Defamation Case Over Melbourne Shrine Rainbow Lights

A local court in Victoria dismissed defamation proceedings against RMIT Fact Lab over a Melbourne Shrine of Remembrance Rainbow Lights story after far-right activist Avi Yemeni withdrew his complaint. 

Yemeni had lodged the proceedings at the County Court of Victoria seeking damages from Fact Lab for a story published in August 2022 titled ‘Shrine of Remembrance CEO did not fabricate safety threats against staff’. 

The Shrine of Remembrance scrapped its plans to light up its colonnades in rainbow colours on July 31, 2023, to honour LGBTQI veterans, after receiving threats from far-right groups. 

The story – which does not name Yemeni – said that “far-right activists have accused Shrine of Remembrance chief executive officer Dean Lee of fabricating stories about threats to staff safety, without providing any sound evidence.”

Fact Lab Debunks Far-Right Claims

The story references a video posted by Yemeni that had been viewed 34,000 times. 

“In the video, the activist is seen speaking to a Protective Services Officer in front of the Shrine who says he is “in charge of the Shrine guards”. The unidentified PSO is asked if he knows anything about the threats, and says, “Oh, just emails and what have you”, then adds, “they’re actually not threats, they’re just hate mail”. It is unclear whether he was aware he was being interviewed and filmed,” wrote Fact Lab journalists. 

Yemeni claims in his video that “As suspected, there were no threats” and that the “CEO of the war memorial is fabricating stories to garner support from the wider community to the fact that he’s a political hack, using the shrine for his own political agenda.”

The Fact Lab story debunks the claims after talking to Lee and Victoria Police, who said they were investigating the threats. 

“Over several days, our staff have received and been subject to sustained abuse and, in some cases, threats,” Lee said in a statement. 

Threats Made To Shrine Of Remembrance Staff

After being called out by RMIT Fact Lab, Yemeni filed a defamation case claiming aggravated damages. 

RMIT relied on truth defence and submitted emails and other evidence that showed the threats sent to staff, reported News.com.au. 

Among the documents submitted by RMIT was an email that had the message ‘TikTock MOFOS’ and Facebook comments calling on people to “duke it out on the streets” over the plans for Rainbow lights. RMIT cited a phone call to the media manager, where an anonymous caller warned they “watched their backs”. 

RMIT also produced messages sent on the Telegram messaging app, where far-right activists posted “These p***ks need to be hung”, “bring back the rubber bullets” and “You Aussies need to start chopping heads off”, reported News.com.au.

On Tuesday, Yemeni discontinued his defamation lawsuit. He later claimed in a video that he had withdrawn the case ” to avoid potential costs”.