Vic's highest judge intervenes on "African crime"

Victorian County Court Chief Justice Peter Kidd explained the debate about the so-called African gangs in Melbourne, saying that only a small percentage of the sentences involved young Australians and Africans.

The chief justice, who spoke with ABC TV's Four Corners, said regular media coverage of crimes committed by young Africans in the western suburbs of Melbourne had fueled public perception of the crime. .

"This gives the impression … that a very important part of our work is devoted to young Africans in the western suburbs of Melbourne," he told ABC's program. broadcast Monday night.

"It's a false impression."

A "tiny" proportion of the 1,600 people sentenced each year has received media coverage, and the media will not fail to report on the crimes committed by those with African heritage, said the Chief Justice.

"If you are an African delinquent, and certainly if you are a young African of South Sudanese descent from the western suburbs of Melbourne, rest badured that your case will be the subject of a report", did he declare.

His comments follow a political war of words about gang violence in Melbourne and its links with the Afro-Australian community.

People born in Sudan and Southern Sudan represent 0.1% of the total population of Victoria, but the community is responsible for 1% of the crimes committed in that state.

Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has been accused of stirring up racism a few months ago when he said authorities should be an "honest dinkum" facing Sudanese gangs in Victoria.

In January, Interior Minister Peter Dutton said people were afraid of dining in Melbourne because of "African gang violence".

The issue of crime among young Africans in Victoria was noticed in 2012 when the Apex gang appeared, but the debate intensified following an outbreak of violence at the Moomba festival in Melbourne in 2016 .

The Victoria Police has received state funding for the creation of a gang task force and hundreds of young offenders have been arrested since the beginning of 2016.