{"id":714644,"date":"2026-04-09T01:37:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T01:37:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/714644\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T01:37:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T01:37:20","slug":"ben-roberts-smith-australias-most-decorated-veteran-faces-war-crime-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/714644\/","title":{"rendered":"Ben Roberts-Smith, Australia’s most decorated veteran, faces war crime charges"},"content":{"rendered":"

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) \u2014 Australia\u2019s most decorated living veteran, Ben Roberts-Smith<\/a>, did not apply for bail when the war crime murder charges against him were listed in a Sydney court Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Roberts-Smith was awarded both the Victoria Cross and Medal of Gallantry for his service in Afghanistan and is only the second Australian veteran of the Afghanistan campaign to be charged with a war crime. <\/p>\n

The charges follow a military report<\/a> released in 2020 that found evidence that elite Australian Special Air Service and commando regiment troops unlawfully killed 39 Afghan prisoners, farmers and other noncombatants. Around 40,000 Australian military personnel served in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2021, of whom 41 were killed.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Ben<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Veteran accused of 5 unlawful deaths <\/p>\n

The allegations against Roberts-Smith relate to the deaths of five Afghan people who died in 2009 and 2012 while he served in Afghanistan as an elite SAS corporal. Police allege he either shot his victims or ordered a subordinate to shoot them in Uruzgan province where Australia\u2019s forces were based.<\/p>\n

Police said he had been charged Tuesday with five counts of war crime murder. But the charges laid in court Wednesday were two counts of war crime murder and three counts of aiding or abetting a war crime murder. All charges carry the same potential maximum sentence of life in prison.<\/p>\n

The charges allege Roberts-Smith killed and caused a subordinate to kill at Kakarak village on April 12, 2009. He allegedly caused a subordinate to kill at Darwan village on Sept. 11, 2012. He allegedly killed and caused a subordinate to kill at Syahchow village on Oct. 20, 2012. <\/p>\n

Australian law defines war crime murder as the intentional killing in a context of armed conflict of a person who is not taking an active part in the hostilities, such as a civilian, prisoner of war or a wounded soldier.<\/p>\n

Australian prime minister describes veteran\u2019s arrest as a \u2018difficult time\u2019 <\/p>\n

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described Roberts-Smith\u2019s arrest as a \u201cdifficult time\u201d for the Australian Defense Force.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should give thanks every day for the men and women who wear our uniform, who are prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of our nation, to keep our Australian way of life going forward. That doesn\u2019t change,\u201d Albanese told Sky News television.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important that this not be politicized, and I have no intention of commenting on what is a legal process,\u201d Albanese added.<\/p>\n

Opposition leader Angus Taylor called on the federal government, known as the Commonwealth of Australia, to pay for the legal defenses of all military personnel prosecuted for war crimes, including Roberts-Smith.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is an imperative that the Commonwealth provide anyone who\u2019s prosecuted in this process, including Ben Roberts-Smith, with … the financial support they need to defend themselves and to ensure that there is a fair trial,\u201d Taylor told reporters. \u201cThe presumption of innocence is crucial.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former Australian prime minister pays tribute to troops <\/p>\n

John Howard, who as Australia\u2019s then-prime minister first committed Australian troops to fight in Afghanistan in 2001, said Roberts-Smith\u2019s arrest would emotionally impact millions of Australians.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a difficult issue for many, as it tests to the limits not only our respect for Australian values, but the deep and special reverence we have for those who put their lives on the line to keep us safe,\u201d Howard said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The Australian Special Air Service Association, which represents current and former members of the elite regiment, said some may be required to testify against former comrades. Others must defend themselves against \u201cgrave allegations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThese realities are deeply confronting for a close and enduring community,\u201d the association said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Roberts-Smith, 47, spent the night in jail after he was arrested at the Sydney Airport on Tuesday morning, and he did not appear in court either in person or by video link Wednesday.<\/p>\n

His lawyers did not enter pleas to the charges or apply for his release on bail. The case was adjourned until June 4.<\/p>\n

Civil court upholds similar allegations<\/p>\n

A civil court<\/a> has already found similar allegations against Roberts-Smith credible in a defamation suit he brought after newspapers published articles in 2018 accusing him of a range of war crimes. In 2023, a federal judge rejected Roberts-Smith\u2019s claims and ruled that he likely killed four noncombatants unlawfully in 2009 and 2012.<\/p>\n

But while the civil court found the war crimes allegations were mostly proven on a balance of probabilities, the war crime murder charges would have to be proved in a criminal court to a higher standard of beyond reasonable doubt.<\/p>\n

Media magnate Kerry Stokes helped fund Roberts-Smith\u2019s civil court action. Roberts-Smith quit his job<\/a> as a state manager of Stokes\u2019 Seven West Media in 2023 after losing the defamation case.<\/p>\n

During his defamation trial, Roberts-Smith had testified that he had never killed an unarmed Afghan and denied ever committing a war crime. He claimed he has the victim of spiteful fellow soldiers\u2019 lies and of others\u2019 envy of his medals.<\/p>\n

Roberts-Smith is the second Australian veteran of the Afghanistan campaign to be charged with a war crime.<\/p>\n

Fellow veteran pleads not guilty to war crime allegation <\/p>\n

Former SAS soldier Oliver Schulz<\/a> has pleaded not guilty to a charge of war crime murder. He is accused of shooting Afghan man Dad Mohammad three times in the head in an Uruzgan province wheat field in 2012.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors and defense lawyers said Schulz\u2019s trial is unlikely to be held before 2027.<\/p>\n

In 2024, the government announced that several serving and former Australian military commanders had been stripped of medals<\/a> over allegations of war crimes committed in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

Holding commanders to account for alleged misconduct of Australian special forces between 2005 and 2016 had been recommended in the war crime investigation report made public in 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) \u2014 Australia\u2019s most decorated living veteran, Ben Roberts-Smith, did not apply for bail when the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":710611,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5],"tags":[7574,138285,38602,13214,4740,46249,295902,356,57,4221,4228,23178,297163,8132,50,295903,13048,44442,103,107],"class_list":["post-714644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","tag-afghanistan","tag-angus-taylor","tag-anthony-albanese","tag-asia-pacific","tag-australia","tag-australia-government","tag-ben-roberts-smith","tag-courts","tag-general-news","tag-homicide","tag-indictments","tag-john-howard","tag-kerry-stokes","tag-military-and-defense","tag-news","tag-oliver-schulz","tag-sydney","tag-war-crimes","tag-world","tag-world-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116372193776723445","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/714644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=714644"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/714644\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/710611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=714644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=714644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=714644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}