Nine loses bid to keep settlement with Ben Roberts-Smith’s lover secret
Nine’s attempt to maintain a 50-year suppression order regarding a settlement with Ben Roberts-Smith’s former lover has been rejected by the Federal Court.Summary
Nine has lost its bid for a 50-year suppression order concerning a settlement reached with 'Person 17', Ben Roberts-Smith’s former lover, who testified in his defamation case against Nine-owned newspapers. While 'Person 17' alleged Roberts-Smith assaulted her, the court found her testimony unreliable regarding the assault claim, but acknowledged his behaviour towards her was “intimidatory, threatening and controlling”. Justice Nye Perram dismissed the suppression order application, citing that details of the settlement had already been widely reported in news articles published in May of the previous year, rendering the order ineffective. Nine was also ordered to pay Roberts-Smith’s legal costs. News Corp and West Australian Newspapers opposed the application. The interim order preventing disclosure of the deed of settlement will expire on February 16th unless an appeal is filed. This case follows a broader defamation suit where the court found Roberts-Smith complicit in the murder of unarmed prisoners in Afghanistan, a finding upheld by the High Court.
(Source：The Sydney Morning Herald)