AUSTRALIA: The controversial former leader of Australia's anti-immigration One Nation party, Pauline Hanson, was sentenced to three years in prison yesterday after being convicted of electoral fraud.
As the verdicts were announced in Brisbane's District Court, Ms Hanson shouted: "Rubbish, I'm not guilty . . . it's a joke."
One Nation's co-founder, David Ettridge, was also given a three-year jail term after being found guilty of the same charge.
After hugging family and friends, former fish and chip shop owner Hanson was led away in tears by court officials before being taken to a Brisbane women's prison for her first night behind bars.
One Nation's co-founder, David Ettridge, was also given a three-year jail term after being found guilty of the same charge.
Ettridge (58), who worked as the party's financial director, told the court: "I still maintain my innocence." Lawyers said an appeal against the sentences would be launched today. The pair had pleaded not guilty to fraudulently registering One Nation, which they founded in Queensland in 1997.
Ms Hanson (49), had also denied dishonestly obtaining almost Aus $500,000 in electoral reimbursements after a state election in Queensland in 1998, in which One Nation won a million votes - almost 25 per cent of the total. But the District Court's 12 jurors found the pair guilty on all charges after more than nine hours of deliberation.
The sentence sounded the death knell for Ms Hanson's political ambitions, which were largely founded on opposition to Asian immigrants and welfare payments to Aborigines.
A divorcee with four children, Hanson resurrected the ghost of Australia's long-abandoned White Australia policy, established in 1901 to ensure the country remained a nation of whites, largely of British/Irish origin.
During the five-week trial, prosecutors accused the pair of passing off a list of 500 supporters as genuine paid-up members of One Nation so that they could register the party and apply for electoral reimbursements.
Prosecutor Mr Brendan Campbell told the court that as a result of the deception Hanson and Ettridge had "undermined the political process".
Ms Hanson first attracted attention in 1996, when the conservative Liberal Party of prime minister Mr John Howard dropped her as a candidate for a seat in the federal parliament because of her extremist views.
But she subsequently won a seat as an independent MP. Hanson lost her seat in 1998 and has since been in the political wilderness.