Decorated soldier and alleged war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith has been granted bail so he can move to Brisbane to be closer to his family.
Mr Roberts-Smith was arrested by the Australian Federal Police in April and charged with five war crimes-related murders.
The former SAS soldier is alleged to have taken part in the killings of five unarmed men while stationed in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012.
He has yet to clear any of the charges.
At Downing Center Local Court on Monday, Judge Susan Horan granted bail for Mr Roberts-Smith to move to Brisbane to be closer to his family.
He has long maintained his innocence of the allegations, which were the subject of his unsuccessful libel suit in the Federal Court against Nine Newspapers.
Mr Roberts-Smith has consistently denied any wrongdoing and the Federal Court’s findings against him were made on the civil standard of balance of probabilities, which is lower than the criminal standard beyond reasonable doubt.
The first two charges relate to the alleged murder of two men at a compound known as Whiskey 108 in Cacarac on April 12, 2009.
It is alleged that Mr Roberts-Smith ordered another officer to kill one man and shoot another man, who had a prosthetic leg, in the head.
He was also allegedly involved in the murder of Afghan shepherd Ali Jan in Darwan in September 2012, when he allegedly kicked a handcuffed man off a cliff and then ordered a junior member of his patrol to shoot him.
The latter two charges relate to the alleged murder of two “persons under control” in Xiahchou in October 2012, when Mr Roberts-Smith allegedly ordered another soldier to execute one of the prisoners.
He also allegedly committed the joint killing of another “person under control” before placing “throws” on the bodies – items of military paraphernalia that give the appearance of a legitimate combat kill.
He will next be back in court on September 1.
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