SYDNEY: A self-styled Muslim cleric accused of sending hate mail to the families of Australian soldiers killed in Afghanistan on Tuesday lost a bid to have his case dropped on free speech grounds.

Iranian-born Man Haron Monis, also known as Sheikh Haron, is facing 13 offensive and harassing conduct charges relating to letters he sent to the widows and other bereaved relatives of soldiers killed in Afghanistan.

The letters referred to the fallen troops as criminals, murderers and killers who were fighting a war of invasion, describing one as “1,000 times worse than a pig”.

A number were also sent to politicians, including one which described the Black Saturday February 2009 wildfires in Australia as divine vengeance for the execution of militant bombers in Indonesia.

Monis, who claims to be an Islamic spiritual leader, tried to get the charges quashed in the Court of Criminal Appeal, arguing that they infringed his “implied constitutional freedom of political communication”.

But a three-judge panel led by Chief Justice Tom Bathurst ruled that his appeal should be dismissed.

Bathurst said that, “Words which are calculated or would be likely to arouse significant anger, significant resentment, outrage, disgust or hatred in the mind of a reasonable person have the potential to, at the very least, cause an emotional reaction in the recipient from which the recipient is entitled to protection.”

The case will now be sent back to the District Court to continue.