Salim Mehajer: Call sister about uncovered domestic violence allegations

Mehajer, 36, lost his desperate bid for freedom last week when the state’s Supreme Court of Appeals took mere minutes to deny his bail application.

The former deputy mayor of Auburn is set to face a three-week district court trial later this month over a string of serious domestic violence allegations.

He has pleaded not guilty to seven counts: four counts of general assault and one count each of actual bodily harm, intimidation, and willful asphyxiation of a reckless victim.

Mehajer has endured a rollercoaster of legal proceedings in recent months, but is preparing for the trial he is expected to represent after being denied legal aid funding last week. He argued that he should be granted bail so that he could

Mr. Mehajer has been remanded to Kempsey’s Mid North Coast Correctional Facility, where he was placed in protective custody during the court hearing.

On Friday, the Court of Appeals announced its reasons for denying Mehajer’s bail request, with Judge Peter Garling describing the supreme case against him as “pretty strong” in his ruling.

Mehajer was indicted on domestic violence charges on December 23, 2020.

Four days later, the court said Mehajer’s sister had emailed her ex-partner, saying the former politician had “done nothing wrong” and wanted her to drop the charges.

In a phone call that same day, Mr. Mehayer said to his sister, Judge Girling said. I never do bad things. I never have. But no matter what I did, no matter what I did… I swear to God, I did it with malice.

Mehajer is eligible for parole after being jailed in April 2021 on unrelated charges of distorting the course of justice and making false statements under oath.

Judge Girling said in her ruling that Mehayer was initially eligible for release in January but was denied bail over allegations of domestic violence against his former partner Melissa Tysor. He is still in prison because of this.

He was granted bail by the NSW District Court earlier this year, but only after the Chief Prosecutor was able to successfully apply for detention in the NSW Supreme Court.

He tried to overturn that decision in an appeals court, but last week a panel of judges Garling, Robert Beech-Jones and Dina Yehia took 16 minutes to reject his bid for freedom. .

In his ruling, Judge Garling wrote that Mehajer’s claim to liberty was based on the grounds that the case was based on electronic material and could not be studied from prison.

He also said he needed to be released to replace the SIM card he gave to the alleged victim when he was detained in November 2020.

Mehajer claimed he needed a SIM card to keep in touch with friends and supporters, and that he could finance his legal fees and save his home from foreclosure.

But Judge Garling said he was skeptical of Mehajer’s claims given the publicity of his supporters and had sought funding for legal aid.

“People he wants to reach out to solicit financial assistance are definitely known to him,” said Judge Girling.

He also said that Mehajer’s defense argued that the alleged crimes never occurred and that he did not need access to vast amounts of written and electronic material.

“It makes no sense that an applicant needs a cell phone or a SIM card to support bail,” Girling said in her ruling.

Justice Garling added:

“In short, the Crown case is a pretty strong one, and his detention period is very short, and will take place at the same time as serving his current prison sentence.

“Similarly, the applicant has not given satisfactory reasons as to why it should be released from custody in order to adequately prepare its defense against domestic violence charges or other charges.”

Mr Mehajer will return to court next week.

first published as Call to Salim Mehajer’s sister about domestic violence allegations revealed in court documents