Arabic version: غريس تام تدلي بشهادتها بشأن منشورات بيستر لعام 2022

According to ABC News, Grace Tame told the Hobart Magistrates Court she feared for her life after social media posts made in 2022 by Nicolaas Ockert Bester, the man who sexually abused her as a child. A special hearing concerning Bester has concluded, with the matter due to return to court in December.

Bester, now in his mid-70s, faces three charges of using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence over three public posts on Twitter, now X, between April and August 2022. He was jailed in 2011 for sexually abusing Ms Tame when she was a 15-year-old student and he was her school teacher. In February, he was found unfit to stand trial for medical reasons.

The posts referred to a countdown to a “comeuppance” and included Ms Tame’s childhood email address. She told the court the language led her to believe something could happen, saying she understood “comeuppance” to mean revenge. Ms Tame said the posts were re-traumatising, destabilised her and left her fearing public humiliation or death. Her publisher and touring company added security to book tour events after the posts, the court heard.

Ms Tame also said she worried Bester might publicly share messages from the period of abuse. Police investigator Detective Senior Constable Declan Gilette said officers found a document at Bester’s residence in October 2022 containing extracts that appeared to be Facebook Messenger messages sent by Ms Tame. The file was named “additional material for Bettina” and was emailed to social commentator Bettina Arndt, the court heard. A copy was also found in a folder titled “Wraak”, which the officer said means revenge or vengeance in Afrikaans.