Key Points
- Alleged war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith has been granted bail.
- Judge Greg Grogin said the bail conditions would mitigate any risk of flight or witness interference.
Alleged war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith has been released from a Sydney prison for the first time in a week, after he was granted bail on Friday.
The 47-year-old former SAS soldier was arrested on 7 April and charged with murdering five unarmed detainees while deployed in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012.
Following nine nights in custody, the Victoria Cross recipient left Silverwater prison on Friday evening after he successfully applied for bail at Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court.
Wearing a blue polo shirt, jeans and a cap, Roberts-Smith was accompanied to his vehicle by officers before departing.
Earlier on Friday, Roberts-Smith — wearing prison-issued green clothing — tuned into his bail hearing via an audiovisual link as a judge heard he had made moves to relocate overseas.
In front of a packed public gallery which included the former soldier's parents, Len and Sue Roberts-Smith, Judge Greg Grogin approved the bail bid, saying the strict conditions mitigated any risk.
The judge noted the consequences if Roberts-Smith approached any prosecution witnesses.
"His arrest would come very swiftly and he would find himself once again donned in green."
The bail conditions
A surety of $250,000 will be forfeited to the court if Roberts-Smith does not comply with his bail conditions.
He will be allowed to travel from his Queensland residence to Sydney and Perth solely to consult with his legal team.
Earlier on Friday, defence barrister Slade Howell said his client would comply with stringent bail conditions.
While Roberts-Smith had been making plans to relocate overseas, he was not a flight risk, the barrister said.
Howell highlighted the exceptional nature of a highly respected soldier such as his client facing five counts of war crime murder in a civilian court.
Howell argued that a superior court might have to consider whether the extraordinary publicity surrounding the case has made a fair trial impossible.
Crown prosecutor Simon Buchen SC opposed bail, saying the charges against Roberts-Smith were gravely serious.
While he acknowledged that bail conditions would prevent the 47-year-old from fleeing the country, the prosecutor said they could not prevent the risk of witness tampering.
Roberts-Smith is accused of directly murdering two Afghan individuals and aiding, abetting or procuring the murder of three more.
He has consistently proclaimed his innocence.
War crime allegations against Roberts-Smith were first exposed by the now Nine-owned Fairfax Media in 2018.
The war veteran sued the paper for defamation in the Federal Court but was unsuccessful, with a judge finding the accusations of murder were, on the balance of probabilities, true.
He failed to overturn these findings on appeal to the full Federal Court and the High Court.
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