Sandwich Shield activist Danny Lim faces jail time for obscure state election rulership

Beloved Australian activist Danny Lim has been threatened with a possible six-month jail term or a $6,000 fine over an obscure voting rule – while running for state election office.

The 79-year-old, known on the streets of Sydney for carrying his iconic sandwich board which promotes love and happiness, is fighting for a House of Lords seat.

It has been five months since Mr Lim was violently attacked by police in the Queen Victoria Building and ended up in hospital with a subdural hematoma (blood clot) in his brain.

The incident sparked outrage and supporters protested outside Surry Hills Police Headquarters at the harsh treatment of Mr Lim.

An internal police investigation into the arrest attempt was announced.

Mr Lim has not been charged with any offense and is now running for a fourth term for a seat in the NSW House of Lords, on a campaign for social justice and ‘a fair way’.

This week, however, Mr Lim was told he could face a thousands of dollar fine over an apparent anomaly in his so-called election material ‘ him in.

Danny Lim stood in his favorite spot when he was photographed on Monday and the image was sent to the AEC, which now says he could be fined or jailed for breaking Australia’s electoral law

Despite his violent arrest by two police officers last November, Danny Lim says he supports the police and appreciates them (pictured above with a police officer in Belmore Park on this year’s Australia Day)

On Monday, Mr Lim was standing on a Newtown street holding an old election poster that read “Hat enuf, Vote 1 Danny Lim”.

He carried a sandwich board as usual, this time with fresh campaign slogans that read ‘stop this brutality now’ with a cartoon by Sydney artist Shakespeare of Danny Lim’s attempted arrest by police last November.

Mr Lim said he posed smiling as usual for a man who took a picture of him in the street, but the photo ended up with the Australian Electoral Commission, who called him two days later and said he was breaking electoral law.

“This man called and I thought someone was playing a joke and he called himself the lead investigator and said I have to use words in my poster on an A-frame.

Last November, Danny Lim hit the tiles at QVB after police tried to arrest him as he was heading to a phone shop with his distinctive sandwich board

The officer told Mr. Lim he could write the words and his address on the material, but the “maximum penalty for a person who does not comply is 20 fines or 6 months imprisonment, or both.”

“I don’t have an A-frame? he said he would send me the handbook for candidates.’

What the AEC official informed Mr Lim was that, in accordance with Section 186 of the Elections Act, between 6 March 2023 and 6pm on Election Day, Saturday 25 March 2023, the words “Authorised by Danny Lim” and his address.

It’s the same wording that appears on major party election posters or at the end of television commercials.

The person who photographed Mr Lim in Newtown and sent the picture of him to the AEC had reported him for allegedly breaking the law.

He was told that a social media site such as Facebook and Twitter must also “have the name and address of the person at whose direction the material was published or distributed, must be published or distributed in a manner, if any, that required by the regulations”.

Mr Lim told Daily Mail Australia that he had no such written authority on election posters at any previous election and that his sandwich board was “not an A-frame” and just part of his clothing.

Danny Lim, now 79, was hospitalized with a subdural hematoma, or a blood clot in the brain, and has since suffered from PTSD related to the incident

The incident sparked outrage and supporters protested (above) Mr Lim’s harsh treatment outside Surry Hills Police Headquarters

He’d paid $500 to register his nomination as a candidate, and when a sandwich board with his new slogans and “Vote 1 Danny Lim” was ready, he took it to his “favorite corner” in Newtown Monday morning.

“That’s what I’m wearing,” he said, “that’s not campaign material, that’s my uniform. “Authorized by Danny Lim?” Why would I write anything? I do not accept donations from anyone.

“I don’t have election posters and leaflets and I don’t print voting cards because I don’t have the money to do so.

“The photo was taken in front of Newtown Station and Enmore Road, it’s my favorite spot, I’ve been standing there for years.

“This is very cloak and dagger. I’ve never had a problem and if they fine me I’ll go to jail because I can’t pay the fine.

“At least I’ll be taken care of in prison.”

Mr. Lim, who still suffers from PTSD after his violent arrest, cried as he spoke about what he hoped to bring to the community if he was elected and his childhood.

Mr Lim’s father, who was born on the same day as former Prime Minister Paul Keating in 1944, “died the day before I was born, my mother died four months later”.

Online campaign for activist Danny Lim with one of his trademarks: “Peace, Love and Respect, Mother”

“My grandmother raised me. She taught me life to always turn the other cheek.

“I love Australia, Australia gives me a chance and I care about the future. I am committed to many things, but more to social justice.”

Mr Lim said even after being treated by police, he blamed neither the officers nor the police and carried supportive placards, as he did for the two Queensland officers involved in the Doomsday ambush in Wieambilla last December were murdered.

Mr Lim, who has met pretty much every NSW prime minister in recent decades – “Gladys (Berejiklian) I knew Barry O’Farrell very well, even Johnny Howard, always comes and talks to me” – belongs to no politician at party and competes with its own team of independent candidates.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if I was very, very close to winning, I have the greatest support from the people of the eastern suburbs and Newtown, everyone is waking up.

“When I’m emotional,” he said, breaking down in tears, “it’s because I have a little bit of post-stress, but I’m always forgiving, I never learned to hate.”

“I made a sign (to the two officers who arrested him): ‘Every police force is individual, my deepest condolences to wife and husband.’ It’s a very simple sign.”

If Mr. Lim is elected and avoids going to jail on electoral law matters, he can promise something that perhaps no other candidate can.

“I have nothing to hide, I do nothing for financial gain. Too much money is a liability,” he said.

‘I am an open book.’

If you would like to speak about this please do not hesitate to contact Peter Baragry on 9290 5429.

With best wishes,

Peter Baragry | Lead Investigator

NSW Electoral Commission

Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk