A domestic violence victim and ex-partner of a disgraced former politician has spoken out against his release, claiming it was ‘grossly unfair’.
Bankrupt property developer and former Auburn deputy mayor Salim Mehajer, 39, walked free from jail on Friday after nearly five years behind bars.
In 2023, while serving time for unrelated offences, Mehajer was convicted of a range of domestic violence offences against his ex-partner.
On Friday, his victim lashed the parole board’s decision to allow his release.
‘It is so unfair, so grossly unfair that the freedoms of the offender are put above the freedoms of the victims,’ she told Nine News in a statement.
‘We are left to rebuild our lives while they are handed back theirs. This isn’t justice.’
Mehajer was sentenced to seven years and nine months behind bars for a range of offences including domestic violence against his ex-partner.
He was convicted of assaulting the victim by punching her in the head in his car, suffocating her with his hand over her nose and mouth until she passed out, crushing her hand as she held her phone and threatening to kill her mother.
Salim Mehajer walked free on Friday. He is pictured leaving a dentist shortly after his release
The one-time millionaire declared bankruptcy while behind bars in 2018
Mehajer (right) rose to prominence for his 2015 wedding reported to have cost $1million
His non-parole period of three years and nine months expired on Friday and the NSW Parole Board decided last month to grant his release.
Mehajer’s victim, referred to legally as MB, said the consequences for domestic violence survivors ‘far outweigh’ the consequences of offending.
‘For some victims it is years and years of trauma, a lifetime of hiding. For others it is rebuilding themselves financially and emotionally after being defrauded or dragged through civil court,’ she said.
‘Many abusers use the legal system as an extension of abuse. The system is set up to facilitate this.
‘This is not a personal grievance. It is a systemic failure. One that must change.’
Mehajer’s release comes with conditions, including that he undergo drug and alcohol testing and participate in domestic violence programs if directed.
He can’t contact his domestic violence victim, communicate with any outlaw motorcycle gang bikies or associates and he can’t go to the Central Coast.
His parole conditions also include being of good behaviour, and ongoing treatment from a private psychologist.
Mehajer will appear in court next month as part of an appeal against his DV convictions
The corrective services commissioner had opposed his release, citing a risk of reoffending, an ‘absence of insight’ and a lack of change in attitude.
Despite concerns relating to the environment he may find himself in once freed, the State Parole Authority calculated his risk of reoffending as ‘medium’.
Mehajer had been behind bars since November 2020, when he was jailed for lying to a court and has served back-to-back sentences for multiple offences.
He has previously claimed he was not given a fair trial while defending himself against the domestic violence charges.
He is due to appear in the Court of Criminal Appeal in August as part of his appeal against his domestic violence convictions.
He rose to prominence following his elaborate western Sydney wedding in 2015 which closed down a street and reportedly cost $1million.
The former politician, who harboured aspirations of one day becoming Prime Minister, was declared bankrupt during a previous prison stint in 2018.
He wasted no time on the day of his release by stopping off at a Service NSW in Westfield Parramatta to collect a new driver’s licence before making a visit to a cosmetic dentist.
Flanked by reporters, he dismissed questions about his future while walking through the western Sydney shopping centre.
‘I’m going to respectfully decline to comment,’ he said.
