Roberts-Smith bailed over alleged war crimes

Alleged war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith has been granted bail despite facing a risk of witness tampering during a court hearing.

The 47-year-old former SAS soldier was sensationally arrested on April 7 and charged with the murder of five unarmed prisoners during his deployment to Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012.

He filed his successful bail application at Sydney’s Downing Center Local Court on Friday.

Roberts-Smith wore prison-issued green clothing and appeared via audiovisual link from Silverwater prison.

Before a packed public gallery, Judge Greg Grogin approved the bail bid.

He said the bail conditions would reduce the risk of flight or witness interference.

Earlier on Friday, defense lawyer Slade Howell said his client would meet strict bail conditions despite previous Federal Court findings that he had threatened or interfered with witnesses.

Mr Howell highlighted the exceptional character of a highly respected soldier such as his client, who faces five war crimes charges in a civilian court.

Crown prosecutor Simon Buchen SC opposed bail, saying the charges against Roberts-Smith were serious and the case against him was strong.

While he acknowledged the bail conditions would prevent the 47-year-old from fleeing the country, the prosecutor said they could not prevent the risk of witness tampering.

Evidence that emerged in the Federal Court defamation case included threatening witnesses, distorting evidence and using burner phones to evade authorities, he said.

Roberts-Smith is accused of directly killing two Afghan individuals and aiding or abetting the murder of three more.

War crimes allegations against Roberts-Smith were first exposed by Fairfax Media, now owned by Nine, in 2018.

The war veteran sued the newspaper for libel in the Federal Court, but suffered a crushing defeat before a judge who ruled that, on the balance of probabilities, the murder allegations were true.

He failed to overturn these findings on appeal to the full Federal Court and the Supreme Court.

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