Gandhinagar: A court here granted bail to an Australian individual who had been arrested for trespassing onto the pitch during the ICC World Cup cricket final while wearing a pro-Palestine T-shirt. The accused, Wen Johnson, had been in police custody for a day before being brought before the court.

The court released him on bail with the condition that he would cooperate with the investigation and surrender his passport, as stated by a senior city crime branch official. Johnson had managed to bypass security and reach the pitch at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad during the final game against Australia on Sunday afternoon, when Virat Kohli was batting. Security personnel promptly apprehended him.

Johnson faces charges of criminal trespass and causing harm to deter public servants from performing their duties. The city crime branch took over the investigation on Monday, transferring Johnson’s custody from the police and presenting him before the court in Gandhinagar to request further remand for investigation.

During police questioning, Johnson claimed he entered the ground because he is a devoted fan of Virat Kohli. He was wearing a face mask with the design of a Palestine flag and a T-shirt with the slogans ‘Stop bombing Palestine’ and ‘Save Palestine’ on the front and back, respectively. A preliminary investigation has uncovered that Johnson has a history of similar offenses and has previously been charged in his home country for invading sports fields. DeshGujarat