Australian SAS Victoria Cross recipient arrested for war crimes

Ben Roberts-Smith, VC MG

It’s been a few years since we last talked about the scandal involving the Australian Special Air Service (SAS) and their antics in Afghanistan. Here’s one from 2020, and here’s one from 2022. We apparently never got an update on the disposition of that latter case, which ended in 2023. From Wikipedia, “In that case in 2023, Roberts-Smith was found to have committed war crimes in Afghanistan in a court judgment (upheld on appeal), according to the civil standard of proof.”

The SAS is the Australian equivalent of the US Army Green Berets, and Roberts-Smith was one of the most badass. He’s a recipient of the Victoria Cross (the highest honor in the Commonwealth), the Medal for Gallantry (equivalent to our Silver Star), and a Commendation for Distinguished Service (analogous to a Bronze Star Medal).

From the Australian Broadcasting Corporation;

Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith charged with war crimes, taken into custody

One of Australia’s most decorated soldiers, Ben Roberts-Smith, has been charged with five counts of the war crime of murder.

The Victoria Cross recipient was arrested at Sydney Airport’s domestic terminal after a flight from Brisbane this morning.

On Tuesday afternoon, he was charged with five counts of war crime and refused bail.

He was taken to Silverwater Prison Complex in the city’s west, where he will remain in custody and is due to appear in Bail Division Court on Wednesday.

The former special forces soldier’s arrest comes after a mammoth defamation trial against Nine Newspapers that, in 2023, ended in a court finding that, on the balance of probabilities, allegations he was responsible for, or complicit in the deaths of four detainees in Afghanistan, were substantially true.

There have been no findings of guilt against Mr Roberts-Smith to a criminal standard.

Mr Roberts-Smith’s appeal in the Federal Court was dismissed in May last year, when the Full Court upheld the findings of the trial judge, Justice Anthony Besanko.

In maintaining his innocence after the High Court refused to hear his case in September, Mr Roberts-Smith described the allegations against him in the defamation case as “egregious” and “spiteful”.

Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Krissy Barrett told the media before Mr Roberts-Smith was charged that it would be alleged the victims were unarmed Afghan nationals who “were not taking part in hostilities at the time of their alleged murder”.

She said the charges came as a result of a “complex” investigation that was undertaken “thoroughly and meticulously” since 2021 by the AFP and Office of the Special Investigator (OSI).

“It will be alleged the victims were shot by the accused or shot by subordinate members of the ADF in the presence of, and acting on the orders of the accused,” Commissioner Barrett said at a media conference in Sydney.

The maximum penalty for the offence is life imprisonment.

The allegations include that he intentionally caused the death of a person in April 2009 and in another offence “aided, abetted, counselled or procured” someone to cause the death of someone on the same day in Kakarak, Uruzgan Province.

The three other charges accuse the former soldier of causing the murder of — and procuring the murder of — civilians in Darwan and Syahchow in September and October, 2012.

Mr Roberts-Smith was expected to face a NSW court on Wednesday.

There’s more at the source, explaining why this case has taken more than a decade.

Category: Aussies, Veterans in the news