SOCIALIST Alliance Fremantle’s Sam Wainwright has condemned a flyer slandering TV personality Waleed Aly during his Fremantle Festival visit over the weekend.
Mr Wainwright, also a City of Fremantle councillor, said the flyer, which attacked Mr Aly’s character and the City of Fremantle’s decision to invite him, was a hoax and was not distributed by anyone associated with the group.
“(The flyer is) a truly vile attempt to smear Waleed Aly’s name in the minds of those naive enough to believe it and an attempt to associate Socialists with the claim,” he said.
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READ NOW“It further treats the survivors of child sexual assault with contempt by treating this serious issue as a play thing.
“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, Islamaphobia, racism and lies.”
Mr Wainwright said it was not know who printed the flyer, but a group had been garnering support to protest Mr Aly’s visit to Fremantle for a number of weeks.
Anyone with information about the origins of the flyer is asked to contact Fremantle Police.