Former Auburn Deputy Mayor Salim Mehajer has been secretly jailed for brutally attacking his ex-girlfriend as she breaks her silence about her horrific ordeal.
Mehajer, 38, was sentenced to seven years and nine months in prison in the District Court last May for a series of offences including domestic violence and fraudulent use of documents.
A jury found the former politician and property developer guilty of choking, beating and threatening to kill his ex-partner during “four fits of rage” during their “abusive” relationship.
However, the lengthy prison sentence could not be disclosed until this week, when a court lifted a non-publication order as Mehajer pleaded guilty to a series of separate offences.
Those crimes, which include staging a car crash in 2017 to avoid a court hearing and falsely nominating other people as drivers of multiple traffic violations, will be sentenced next month.
After the gag order was lifted on Monday, Mehajer’s ex-girlfriend, who cannot be named for legal reasons, issued a statement celebrating the outcome.
Salim Mehajer (pictured) was secretly jailed for seven years and nine months in May.
“For those of you who supported me during this ordeal, the no-publication order was lifted today,” he wrote online.
“I’m going to make a very nice life for myself, whatever the cost.”
Mehajer rose to infamy in 2015 after her lavish wedding (which included a fighter jet, four helicopters, a fleet of sports cars and a seaplane) shut down streets in Sydney’s west, outraged her neighbours.
He was subsequently fined for closing the road and a petition was launched calling for Mehajer to be sacked from the council.
In the years following her high-profile nuptials, Mehajer’s life imploded dramatically as her business dealings began to crumble and legal troubles mounted.
In June 2018, he was sentenced to 21 months in prison for 77 counts of electoral fraud relating to the 2012 New South Wales local government elections.
He served 11 months of that sentence and, shortly after his release, was back in court for falsely identifying others as the drivers of his luxury cars when he was caught speeding between 2012 and 2014.
Mehajer is seen arriving at Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court for a matter in August 2020.
Mehajer’s high-profile wedding (pictured) caused an uproar in his neighbourhood, triggering a petition to have him fired.
At last year’s domestic violence trial, the court heard that Mehajer punched his ex-girlfriend in the head 10 times while they were in a car on the way to a restaurant after a fight broke out over necklaces.
In another incident, he flew into a jealous rage and squeezed her hand so hard while she was holding his phone that the screen cracked and shards of glass embedded themselves in his thumb.
In the other two violent episodes, he pinned her against a wall and threatened to “kill her family members in front of her before killing her,” and stalked her in a bedroom before covering her nose and mouth with his hand until she passed out.
The seven-year prison sentence, relating to a total of 15 charges, also includes fraud convictions after Mehajer was found guilty by a jury in June last year of forging the signatures of his sister and his former lawyer to gain a financial advantage.
Mehajer’s sentence was backdated to 2022 and includes a non-parole period of three years and six months.
His maximum prison term expires on October 18, 2029, but he will be eligible for early release beginning July 18, 2025.
