A group of Australian Christians who entered a government Minister’s office and held a prayer vigil protest have had all charges against them dismissed by a court.

The five Christians had pleaded guilty in court to the charges against them before the Magistrate dismissed them.

“The aim was to pray about the asylum seeker issue in public, to draw attention to Australia’s cruel policies of indefinite detention,” said Matt Anslow, one of the Christians involved in the protest.

The Magistrate said “If ever there was a peaceful protest this was it” as he dismissed the charges.

“Martin Luther King Jr spoke about there being times when civil disobedience is necessary to dramatise an issue of injustice so that it can no longer be ignored,” Anslow said.  “For us to be silent in the face of injustice is to be complicit in the injustice, for us not to speak is to speak.”

Minister Scott Morrison was targeted for the protest because he has said that he is a Christian. The group wanted to encourage Morrison to act on his Christian beliefs.