One of Australia's most notorious gangland figures will be released on bail after almost two decades in prison.
Tony Mokbel, 59, arrived at court on Friday morning from prison in an armoured BearCat vehicle, with dozens of police surrounding the gates as he was escorted into court.
He smiled, patted his lawyer on the shoulder and briefly spoke to his legal team ahead of the decision being handed down.
Three Court of Appeal justices decided he should be freed after he applied for bail earlier this week as he fights to overturn his remaining drug trafficking convictions on a long-awaited Lawyer X appeal.
Justice Karin Emerton, court president, said: "As he was required to, Mr Mokbel has established his circumstances are truly exceptional."
"He has a very strong case that his convictions should be quashed," she said.
Tony Mokbel is appealing against convictions made while his lawyer was also a police informer. Source: AAP / Joel Carrett
His sister, Gawy Saad, offered $850,000 in surety to secure Mokbel's bail and said she was "sure he won't do it to anyone else" when asked about what happened to her sister-in-law.
Mokbel had agreed to abide by what his lawyer said were "stringent" bail conditions, including GPS monitoring, a curfew, daily police reporting and a restriction on leaving Victoria.
Those conditions are being decided by Justices Emerton, Robert Osborn and Jane Dixon.
He will live at Saad's four-bedroom home at Viewbank, in Melbourne's north-east. She told the court she would give an undertaking to report him to police if he violated any bail conditions.
Barrister Julie Condon represented Tony Mokbel. Source: AAP / Joel Carrett
He is fighting to overturn drug trafficking convictions, after he pleaded guilty to heading a multi-million dollar drug trafficking empire known as The Company.
Mokbel was represented at the time by barrister-turned-supergrass Nicola Gobbo, unaware she was informing for Victoria Police.
He is eligible for parole in June 2031, and an appeal over his drug trafficking convictions will be heard later this year.
