Fallen military hero Ben Roberts-Smith has been spotted in Bali less than three months after fleeing there to avoid a judge branding him a war criminal.
Photographs from the Indonesian getaway reveal the towering 44-year-old former soldier, soaking up the sun with his girlfriend Sarah Matulin at Fins Beach Club over the weekend.
At one point, Roberts-Smith, dressed in just shorts and a baseball cap, gave a double thumbs-up sign, while Ms Matulin, dressed in a cream mini dress, sat at her side. sides.
She then stripped naked and donned a white-and-yellow star bikini as the couple enjoyed a meal at this luxurious mega-restaurant, where steak and fries cost nearly $80.
Ms Matulin enjoyed a salad and a glass of champagne from a bottle in an ice bucket on the table, along with some San Pellegrino sparkling water to keep the couple hydrated.
Ben Roberts-Smith was spotted in Bali less than three months after fleeing there to avoid a judge branding him a war criminal.
At one point, Roberts-Smith, dressed in just shorts and a baseball cap, gave a double thumbs-up sign, while Ms Matulin, dressed in a cream mini dress, sat at her side. sides.
She then stripped down and stripped down to a white and yellow star bikini as the pair enjoyed a meal in the lavish mega avenue, where steak and fries cost nearly $80.
The tattooed Victoria Cross recipient returns to Bali after sensationally losing his multimillion-dollar libel ‘case of the century’ at the end of May.
Judge Anthony Besanko dismissed his claim against Nine Newspapers and found the war hero and father of two was complicit in the case. murder of four Afghan men.
Judge Besanko’s job was to determine whether Nine had enough evidence to support the claims made and decide whether they were “substantially true” or not.
The threshold for establishing this in a civil case is “on a balance of probabilities” rather than the much more onerous test in a criminal case, “beyond a reasonable doubt”.
No criminal action automatically follows from the Federal Court judgment, so Roberts-Smith is perfectly free to do what he did and sunbathe in Bali.
Australia’s most decorated war hero escaped May’s final court hearing and was sunbathing with swimmers on a lounge chair by the pool at a luxury $500-a-night resort in Bali as judgment was passed.
The decision to skip the verdict even blindsided his billionaire Seven West Media boss, Kerry Stokes, who had funded the hugely expensive trial.
Mr Stokes was reportedly surprised to learn that Roberts-Smith was in Bali for the judge’s decision, and admitted he had not had a chance to speak to him about it.
“But I will when he has had a chance to fully absorb the judgement,” he added at the time.
Roberts-Smith had been an executive at the media company as managing director of Seven Queensland since 2015, but resigned days after the court ruling.
The case – which lasted 110 days over four years – was Australia’s second longest and most expensive libel trial ever.
Experts estimate the final bill is already $30 million for Roberts-Smith’s legal team, before the cost of any appeal or payment of fees to Nine Newspapers.
Judge Besanko found the main assertions made by Nine Newspapers against Roberts-Smith to be “substantially true” and resulted in explosive findings in favor of the media giant.
Ben Roberts-Smith, Australia’s most decorated living serviceman (pictured with ex-wife Emma) has been branded a murderer, bully and war criminal in the Federal Court’s bombshell verdict
Billionaire Seven boss Kerry Stokes (pictured) employed Roberts-Smith as network manager and was convinced of the ex-soldier’s innocence, prompting him to fund the fight
The court found that Nine Newspapers had proven the “substantial or contextual truth” of all of the libelous charges alleged by Roberts-Smith and all but two of the allegations they made against the soldier.
The judge declared Roberts-Smith “murdered or an accomplice and responsible” for the murder of four Afghans between 2009 and 2012.
The former SAS corporal was allegedly involved in the killing of two Afghan men while on a mission at Whiskey 108 on April 12, 2009.
He was also convicted of murdering an Afghan on a mission in Darwan on September 11, 2012 and an Afghan on a mission in Chinartu on October 12, 2012.
It also concluded that he was a war criminal for having “broken the moral and legal rules of military engagement”.
The judge declared Roberts-Smith “murdered or an accomplice and responsible” for the murder of four Afghan men between 2009 and 2012.
He was also convicted of assaulting three unarmed Afghan men in 2010 and 2012, attacking one of them with such ferocity that his commanders had to order him back.
He was also found guilty of intimidating a “small and discreet” soldier known as “Trooper M” by threatening him with violence.
It also turned out to be contextually true that he threatened to report a soldier to the International Criminal Court for shooting civilians unless he confirmed his version of a friendly fire incident.
