A TikTok comedian who addressed a Sydney Covid-19 anti-lockdown protest is fighting a charge that he encouraged the group to commit a crime.
Jon-Bernard Kairouz, 25, faced three charges in Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday in contravention of the public health act for attending a public protest on July 24, 2021.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of being away from his residence without a reasonable excuse, and participating in a public gathering while Greater Sydney was plunged in hard lockdown due to the rapid spread of Covid-19.
The comedian is fighting a third charge for encouraging the commission of crimes after delivering a speech using a megaphone from Sydney’s Town Hall steps.
An estimated crowd of about 3,500 people had gathered, the court was told.
Jon-Bernard Kairouz (pictured) pleaded guilty to two charges when he faced a Sydney court on Wednesday. He plans to fight a third charge
The online entertainer went viral on TikTok and saw follower numbers soar at the height of the Sydney pandemic after correctly reporting how many cases NSW would announce hours before they were reported.
Kairouz claimed at the time said he had no inside government source but was predicting the figures mathematically.
On Wednesday his defence lawyer Daniel Grippi said his client’s pleas of guilty to the first two charges should quash the third charge, as the gathering had a shared common purpose between all.
‘And he gathers in front of persons, the same persons the prosecution alleges he then encourages to commit an offence of gathering,’ Mr Grippi said.
Jon-Bernard Kairouz (pictured with a megaphone at the rally) addressed thousands on the steps on Sydney Town Hall at a anti-lockdown protest last July
Prosecutor Michael Cleaver pressed the charge, saying his offending included ‘the manner in which (the words) were delivered, through the demeanour and physical actions, and the circumstances he is speaking to the public via a loudspeaker’.
He said magistrate Emma Manea should punish someone who was allegedly encouraging others to commit a criminal offence while in contravention of the public health order.
The hearing continues.
Jon-Bernard Kairouz became famous during the Sydney lockdown for correctly guessing the number of Covid cases NSW had each day
