World News | Australian soldier charged with killing Afghan released on bail

SYDNEY, March 28 (AP) – A former elite soldier charged with murder in connection with the killing of an unarmed man in Afghanistan was released on bail Tuesday by a magistrate who believes he will face charges against Muslim extremists in prison. Danger.

Oliver Schulz, 41, has been in custody after being arrested in rural NSW last week on charges of war murder.

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His lawyer, Phillip Boulten, applied for bail in Sydney’s Downing Center Local Court on Monday, arguing the former SAS soldier faced serious personal safety risks from Muslim extremists in the prison system and had to live with other prisoners isolation.

“Wherever this man will be held, he will probably have to mix with people who sympathize with the Taliban or other Islam

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Extremist groups,” Bolten said.

Magistrate Jennifer Atkinson granted the request, agreeing he was too risky behind bars.

“It can be inferred that there may have been a number of individuals held there who may have taken an unfavorable position against the defendant’s conduct as a member of the (Australian Defense Force) and on the day the incident allegedly took place,” Atkinson told the court.

Schultz is being held at a high-security prison in Goulburn, 200 kilometers (120 miles) southwest of Sydney.

Most of NSW’s worst convicted terrorists are being held in Goulburn.

Helmet-cam footage broadcast by the ABC in 2020, filmed in Afghanistan’s Uruzgan province in 2012, will form part of the prosecution case.

The video allegedly shows Schultz firing three shots at the local man, Papa Mohammad, as he lay on his back in a wheat field with his hands and knees raised.

His father later complained to the Australian Defense Force that his son had been shot in the head.

Atkinson said that because of the murder charge, Schultz will be in a “difficult if not dangerous” detention environment where correctional officers will not be able to supervise him 24 hours a day.

“I think the accused is probably in a worse position than other people on remand given the particular security risks they face personally,” she said.

If Schultz was forced to go behind bars, Atkinson said, it would also be difficult for Schultz to advise his lawyers and obtain classified material under strict conditions because of national security concerns surrounding the case.

The court withheld the name of the town and region where Schultz lived to protect his family from threats.

After footage of the Afghan shooting was broadcast nationally, then Defense Minister Linda Reynolds referred the allegations to the Australian Federal Police.

Schultz was suspended in 2020 and later retired from the Australian Defense Force for health reasons.

Schultz, who was honored for his bravery for his service in Afghanistan, is the first former or active ADF member to face war crimes murder charges under domestic law.

If convicted, he faces life in prison.

He is one of 19 current and former Australian Special Forces soldiers who a war crimes investigation has found could face charges for illegal actions in Afghanistan.

Following a four-year investigation, a military report released in 2020 found evidence that Australian troops unlawfully killed 39 Afghan prisoners, farmers and civilians.

In the 20 years before the withdrawal in 2021, more than 39,000 Australian troops served in Afghanistan, 41 of whom were killed. (Associated Press)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)