Australia’s soldier has been charged over allegations he committed war crimes in Afghanistan. At a news conference in Sydney, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) confirmed a 47-year-old former soldier had been arrested and would be charged with killing unarmed detainees while serving in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012. He faces one charge of the war crime of murder, one of jointly commissioning a murder, and three charges of aiding, abetting, counseling, or procuring a murder.
Ben Roberts-Smith – who left the defence force in 2013 was arrested at Sydney airport on Tuesday and will face court over five counts of the war crime of murder. He will spend the night in a cell before a bail hearing on Wednesday. A defamation judgment in 2023 found the former corporal in Australia’s Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) had killed several unarmed Afghans.
The 47-year-old Victoria Cross recipient denies all wrongdoing and has previously said the allegations against him, which have not yet been assessed at a criminal standard, were “egregious” and “spiteful”. Roberts Smith argued the alleged killings occurred legally during combat or did not happen at all, and last year lost an appeal against the Federal Court finding.
