Ex-SAS soldier accused of war crime could engage in ‘hand-to-hand’ combat with police, court told

A former elite Australian soldier accused of a wartime murder is fighting to travel across the country so he can talk to his lawyer in person.

A former elite Australian soldier accused of committing a war crime could be at risk of engaging in “hand-to-hand” combat with police who enforce his bail conditions, a court has been told.

Oliver Schulz appeared at Downing Centre Local Court on Monday via audiovisual link to make a bid to have his strict conditions relaxed to allow him to have meetings with his lawyer in Western Australia.

Dressed in a maroon button-up shirt and grey blazer, Mr Schulz sat and listened as the court was told he wants to visit Perth multiple times to have briefings with his lawyer, Karen Espiner.

The 41-year-old has been charged with committing a war crime by murdering a civilian while he was deployed in Afghanistan with the Australian Defence Force.

Oliver Schulz has been charged with the murder of an Afghan villager.

Police allege the 41-year-old fatally shot Dad Mohammad, a father and struggling farmer, in a wheat field in Uruzgan Province in May 2012.

Mr Schulz, a former Special Air Services soldier, is the first Australian serviceman or veteran to be charged with a war crime under Australian law.

Sean Flood, representing the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, told the court assessments needed to be made to ensure police would be safe while enforcing Mr Schulz’s bail conditions in Perth.

“Mr Schulz is a highly trained former military officer... they (police) wanted to make sure if they were conducting compliance checking they were sending people who would be safe in the circumstance,” Mr Flood told the court.

“He’s in a much better position to enter into hand-to-hand combat than a member of the public because of his training.”

Mr Flood said Mr Schulz is in a “much better physical capacity” to undertake physical violence than a member of the public who doesn’t have the same military training.

Video footage of the alleged murder was broadcast by ABC’s Four Corners in 2020.

He told the court there were also concerns Mr Schulz may be a flight risk while in Perth, and asked for curfew conditions to remain in place.

Magistrate Brett Shields told the court he was leaning toward varying bail to allow Mr Schulz to travel to Perth.

The magistrate will make a final decision on the matter on Friday.

The allegations against Mr Schultz were first aired in March 2020 when Four Corners broadcast footage from Afghanistan and he was suspended from the ADF.

Mr Schulz was arrested in March 2023 and granted bail after it was found he was at risk of being targeted in prison.

The former soldier’s lawyer argued his client was at “grave risk” of being attacked in jail by Islamic extremists and inmates who were ideologically opposed to the war in Afghanistan.

Mr Schulz was released on bail under strict conditions, including that he surrender a $200,000 surety and not leave his home between 10pm and 5am.

He must also report to police daily, not communicate with any witnesses, hand over his passport, and provide officers with access to his phone.

Originally published as Ex-SAS soldier accused of war crime could engage in ‘hand-to-hand’ combat with police, court told