7am The 'sovereign citizen' ideology behind Australia's most wanted man
Aug 28, 2025
Mahmood Fazal, an investigative reporter with Four Corners, sheds light on the alarming rise of the sovereign citizen movement in Australia. He discusses how individuals like Dezi Freeman, who identified as a sovereign citizen, have become increasingly radicalized, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The conversation uncovers the deep distrust this community holds towards government and law enforcement, their fear of disarmament, and the troubling connections to mainstream politics. Fazal highlights the real dangers these ideologies pose to public safety.
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Meeting A Self‑Described Peaceful Sovereign Group
- Fazal describes meeting the Sovereign People's Assembly of Western Australia who claim to be peaceful and non-violent.
- The group nonetheless insists on living under a 'natural God-given law' above existing legal rules.
Pseudo‑Law Masks Rejection Of State Authority
- Sovereign citizens use pseudo-law: legal-sounding but legally meaningless arguments to reject state authority.
- Mahmood Fazal shows this pseudo-law frames their claims of natural, God-given law above statutory systems.
Sovereignty Recast To Undermine Government Legitimacy
- Sovereign ideology reframes sovereignty as belonging to people, not the state, and exploits First Nations language about sovereignty.
- Fazal notes groups play semantic games to argue the government lacks legitimate authority in Australia.