Court security beefed for landmark war crime hearings

[Pelican Press 0]

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Court security beefed for landmark war ****** hearings

Security will need to be beefed up at Sydney’s busiest courthouse to protect “sensitive information” tendered in the landmark war-******* prosecution of a former SAS soldier.

Oliver Jordan Schulz, 43, is facing allegations he shot a local man, Dad Mohammad, three times as he lay on his back in a wheat field in Afghanistan’s Uruzgan province in 2012.

While the case ******** in its early stages in the lower courts, additional security measures will need to be installed at Sydney’s Downing Centre to protect certain evidence tendered in the case, a magistrate was told on Tuesday.

Commonwealth barrister Joe Edwards, who made the application under the National Security Information Act, said an assessment of the courthouse had already been carried out by the attorney-general’s office.

“Communication of sensitive information is usually only able to occur in particular circumstances, in a particular way,” Mr Edwards said.

Small modifications might need to be made, including the installation of a government-approved “class B” safe and audio transcription software, he said.

“A lock might need to be changed or ****** might need to be installed; something like that,” Mr Edwards added.

Schulz’s Perth-based lawyer, Karen Espiner, said the application was not opposed.

The measures are similar to those introduced for an appeal by disgraced war hero Ben Roberts-Smith following his ******* defamation suit against several media outlets.

Federal Court justices overseeing that case were told they would each need to have specialised safes installed in their chambers and might need to close their blinds while reading sensitive documents to prevent people using drones to look in.

Magistrate Jennifer Atkinson said she understood the need for the measures, but she was concerned about whether the court had the resources to implement them.

“We don’t have the financial resources that some courts might have,” she said.

“What concerns me is that it actually is workable and we don’t hit a hiccup on the first day.”

Ms Atkinson noted under the orders a magistrate hearing the case would not be able to use their own iPad, as they often did in court to check legislation.

Mr Edwards explained they could be provided with a secure laptop during hearings.

“I am satisfied there is a need for the orders to be put in place,” Ms Atkinson said.

Schulz was arrested in March 2023, becoming the first former or serving *********** Defence Force member to be charged with a war ******-related *******.

A five-day committal hearing has been set for April.

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