Disgraced former deputy mayor of Auburn Council Salim Mehajer has released a statement following his release on parole after being locked up for five years.
Mehajer was sentenced to seven years and nine months behind bars for a number of crimes, including domestic violence offences against his ex-partner, and forging his lawyer’s signature.
He was released on parole yesterday and posted to his private Instagram page this morning, thanking the parole board for his release.
“I wish to formally convey my deep gratitude for the opportunity granted to me by the State Parole Authority,” the post reads.
“I am fully committed to fulfilling the expectations placed before me, additionally, I express my sincere appreciation for the unwavering support of my family and friends, as well as the dedication of my legal representative.”
He said he couldn’t comment on the matter further as he has a scheduled appeal in three weeks.
The post included a third paragraph, saying that in his prior ten-year relationship with Aysha Learmonth, he had never been accused of violence against her, and said she had nothing to do with “present matters.”
“I find it extraordinary that the media persists in referencing my prior marriage to my then long-term partner,” he wrote.
Learmonth was granted an AVO against Mehajer in 2017 as video footage emerged that showed him threatening to rape her and her parents.
He was convicted of breaching the AVO in 2018.
The pair’s lavish 2015 wedding put Mehajer in the spotlight, spending over $1 million on the event.
Mehajer was granted parole last month after he was found guilty in 2023 in separate trials for offences which took place between April 1, 2018 and October 4, 2020, including for domestic violence against a different former partner of Mehajer.
