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(SeaPRwire) –   MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Ben Roberts-Smith, Australia’s most decorated living soldier, was released on bail from a Sydney prison Friday, ten days after facing war crimes charges connected to five killings during his service in Afghanistan.

In a Sydney court approximately five hours earlier, Judge Greg Grogin approved bail, determining the former Special Air Service Regiment corporal had demonstrated exceptional circumstances warranting his release. Prosecutors had objected, contending Roberts-Smith posed a flight risk and could tamper with witnesses or evidence.

The 47-year-old was taken into custody on April 7 and faces five counts of war crime murder related to the deaths of five individuals in Afghanistan’s Uruzgan province in 2009 and 2012.

Under Australian law, war crime murder is defined as the deliberate killing of a person not actively engaged in hostilities during an armed conflict, such as a civilian, prisoner of war, or injured combatant.

Media photographs indicated Roberts-Smith was driven from Sydney’s Silverwater Correctional Complex late Friday, seemingly in the same attire he had on when police removed him from a commercial flight at Sydney Airport the previous week.

Roberts-Smith, a recipient of both the Victoria Cross and the Medal of Gallantry for his actions in Afghanistan, is just the second Australian veteran of the conflict to be charged with a war crime.

These charges come after a 2020 military report uncovered evidence that elite SAS and commando forces had illegally killed 39 Afghan detainees, farmers, and other non-combatants. Approximately 40,000 Australian troops served in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2021, with 41 losing their lives.

Comparable accusations against Roberts-Smith were deemed credible in a 2023 civil defamation case, where a judge dismissed his lawsuit against newspapers.

During that civil trial, Roberts-Smith stated under oath that he never killed an unarmed Afghan and denied committing any war crime. He asserted he was targeted by malicious falsehoods from resentful colleagues envious of his honors.

However, while the civil court found the war crimes allegations were substantially proven on the balance of probabilities, the criminal murder charges must meet the stricter standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

Roberts-Smith is alleged to have shot two of the victims himself. He is also accused of instructing subordinates to kill the three others.

Prosecutor Simon Buchen, arguing against bail, labeled the charges “among the most serious known to the criminal law.”

Buchen stated Roberts-Smith was “on the verge of moving overseas” without notifying authorities once he learned prosecutors were contemplating charges.

“Advanced plans to relocate overseas were made. Consideration was being given to moving to various overseas destinations,” Buchen informed the court.

If convicted on each count, Roberts-Smith could receive a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. He has not yet entered a plea.

Defense attorney Slade Howell told the bail hearing that Roberts-Smith’s case “may properly be described as exceptional in the sense that it is out of the ordinary.”

“Using domestic courts to try alleged war crimes committed by a highly decorated Australian soldier repeatedly deployed overseas by the government to fight a war is unprecedented and uncharted legal territory in this country’s common law,” Howell said.

Howell added that Roberts-Smith’s “proceedings will be beset by a multitude of delays, many of which are peculiar to these proceedings.”

He suggested potential delays could occur if prosecutors opt to charge one or more of Roberts-Smith’s fellow veterans, some of whom currently reside abroad.

Roberts-Smith participated in the bail hearing via video link from prison, speaking only when the judge asked him to confirm he could see and hear the proceedings.