Two men, who were arrested as part of an ongoing investigation into who helped Dezi Freeman evade authorities during the seven months he spent on the run, have been released.
Victoria Police confirmed detectives arrested two men, aged 48 and 45, at separate locations in the state’s north-east on Tuesday.
Police said the pair were not related to Freeman and would be interviewed by investigators.
“The pair will now be interviewed by police,” Victoria Police said in a statement. “The investigation remains ongoing and as such, we are not in a position to provide further details at this immediate time.”
Police later confirmed the two men were released on Wednesday, pending further enquiries.
Freeman was shot dead by police in March after months on the run following the fatal shooting of two police officers at a rural property in August last year.
Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart were killed when officers attended the property to execute a search warrant.
A third officer was seriously injured after being shot in the leg.
Since Freeman’s death, investigators have focused on identifying who may have assisted him while he was on the run.
Details of Freeman’s final days were outlined during a directions hearing at the Coroners Court on Monday.
Counsel assisting Lindsay Spence said police received intelligence a week before Freeman’s death that he was hiding at a property in Thologolong, near the New South Wales border.
The court also heard the original search warrant related to allegations involving child abuse material.
“The purpose of the search warrant was for the locating and seizure of electronic devices that were to be interrogated for the potential presence of child abuse material,” Spence told the court.
Family members of the slain officers attended the hearing, including Thompson’s partner and sisters, while de Waart-Hottart’s parents joined remotely.
Freeman had previously been linked to the sovereign citizen movement, whose followers reject Australian laws and government authority.
He had earlier come to police attention during protests outside Myrtleford Magistrates’ Court in 2021 and was also involved in an unsuccessful attempt to arrest a magistrate using so-called “pseudo-law” tactics.
Image: ABC News
