Australia’s most-decorated living soldier charged over alleged war crimes

Australia’s Most-Decorated Soldier Faces War Crimes Charges

Ben Roberts-Smith, the nation’s most highly decorated living military veteran, has been charged with alleged war crimes committed in Afghanistan. The former Special Air Service (SAS) corporal, who retired from the defense force in 2013, was detained at Sydney airport on Tuesday and will appear in court for five counts of murder. He is expected to remain overnight in detention ahead of a bail hearing scheduled for Wednesday.

Defamation Case and Legal Dispute

A 2023 defamation ruling established that Roberts-Smith, a Victoria Cross recipient, had killed multiple unarmed Afghans. The 47-year-old denies all accusations, calling them “egregious” and “spiteful” in previous statements. The civil trial marked the first time a court examined claims of war crimes by Australian forces, though the charges have not yet reached a criminal standard.

“It will be alleged the victims were shot by the accused or by troops under his command, acting on his orders during the conflict,” said Commissioner Krissy Barrett of the Australian Federal Police.

Roberts-Smith contested the allegations, asserting the killings occurred legally during combat or were not even committed. His appeal against the Federal Court’s findings was dismissed last year, confirming that he participated in at least four murders. A judge ruled that he twice ordered unarmed men to be executed to “blood” inexperienced soldiers, and was involved in the deaths of a handcuffed farmer pushed off a cliff and a Taliban fighter whose prosthetic leg was taken as a trophy.

Brereton Report and Investigative Efforts

In 2020, the Brereton Report revealed “credible evidence” of 39 unlawful killings by elite Australian troops in Afghanistan, prompting the creation of a specialist team, the Office of the Special Investigator (OSI), to probe the incidents. To date, only one individual has been charged by the OSI, which faces challenges in gathering evidence from a country 9,000km away. Ross Barnett, the OSI’s director, called the arrest a “significant step” under difficult conditions.

“We don’t have photographs, site plans, or access to the crime scenes. The deceased were never recovered, and blood spatter analysis is missing,” Barnett noted.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese refrained from commenting on the case, emphasizing the importance of judicial independence. The allegations emerged in 2018 when nine newspapers first reported on them, highlighting Roberts-Smith’s status as a national hero after he received Australia’s highest military honor for single-handedly defending his SAS unit against Taliban attacks. Since then, he has engaged in a high-profile legal fight lasting seven years, costing millions, and dubbed by some as the country’s “trial of the century.”