Australia Afghan War Crimes
FILE - Britain's Queen Elizabeth II greets Corp. Ben Roberts-Smith from Australia, who was recently awarded the Victoria Cross, during an audience at Buckingham Palace in London, Nov. 15, 2011.
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Australia’s most decorated living veteran, Ben Roberts-Smith, faces war crime charges on allegations that he killed five unarmed Afghans while serving in Afghanistan from 2009 to 2012. Police have not confirmed the name of the 47-year-old former soldier who was arrested on Tuesday. But he was been widely reported in the media as the former Special Air Service Regiment corporal who was awarded both the Victoria Cross and Medal of Gallantry for his service in Afghanistan. Police says he will remain in custody overnight and will make his first court appearance on Wednesday. Roberts-Smith is only the second Australian veteran of the Afghanistan campaign to be charged with a war crime.
Australia’s most decorated living veteran did not apply for bail when the war crime murder charges against him were listed in a Sydney court Wednesday. Ben Roberts-Smith was awarded both the Victoria Cross and Medal of Gallantry for his service in Afghanistan. The charges follow a military report released in 2020 that found evidence Australian Special Air Service and commando regiment troops unlawfully killed 39 Afghan noncombatants. The allegations against Roberts-Smith relate to the deaths of five Afghan people who died in 2009 and 2012 while he served in Afghanistan. Police allege he either shot them or ordered a subordinate to shoot them.
Australia's most decorated veteran walks free on bail on war crimes charges related to Afghan deaths
Australia’s most decorated living veteran has walked free on bail from a Sydney prison 10 days after he was charged with committing war crimes in Afghanistan. The judge had ruled earlier Friday that Ben Roberts-Smith had established exceptional circumstances to justify his release from custody on bail. Prosecutors had opposed bail and argued there was a risk he would flee Australia or interfere with witnesses and evidence. The charges against him allege he was responsible for the unlawful killings of five Afghans in Uruzgan province in 2009 and 2012. Roberts-Smith testified during a separate civil trial that he never killed an unarmed Afghan and he denied ever committing a war crime.
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