Ben Roberts-Smith, Australia's most decorated living soldier, was arrested at Sydney Domestic Airport on April 7, 2023, and charged with five counts of war crime-murder. The charges relate to incidents that occurred between 2009 and 2012 in Afghanistan, involving the deaths of unarmed Afghan nationals who were detained and under the control of Australian Defence Force (ADF) members.
Key Takeaways
Australia's most decorated living soldier, Ben Roberts-Smith, has been arrested and charged with five counts of war crime murder in Afghanistan. The charges relate to incidents between 2009-2012 involving unarmed Afghan nationals under ADF control.
- Roberts-Smith faces life imprisonment for each charge
- Arrest followed a lengthy investigation by OSI and AFP
- Charges allege victims were not participating in hostilities when killed
- Roberts-Smith denied bail, court appearance scheduled for Wednesday
The arrest follows a lengthy investigation by the Office of Special Investigator (OSI) and the Australian Federal Police (AFP), which began in 2021. The charges allege that Roberts-Smith, or subordinate members acting on his orders, shot the victims who were not taking part in hostilities at the time of their alleged murder.
The maximum penalty for each charge is life imprisonment. AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett confirmed during a press conference outside the AFP Sydney Headquarters that Roberts-Smith had been denied bail and would appear in court for a bail hearing on Wednesday. The investigation faced significant challenges due to the difficulty of gathering evidence from Afghanistan, including access to crime scenes and post-mortem reports.
The arrest comes after Roberts-Smith lost defamation proceedings against journalists who reported he was complicit in the murder of unarmed Afghan men. An Australian judge found in 2023 that those journalists had not defamed Roberts-Smith, a ruling upheld by the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia last May.
Roberts-Smith's case has drawn considerable scrutiny due to his decorated military career and previous receipt of the Victoria Cross medal for his service in Afghanistan. He is the second veteran to be charged after a 2020 report found evidence Australian SAS and commando troops had unlawfully killed 39 prisoners, farmers, and other non-combatants.
Oliver Schulz, 44, is the other former Australian SAS veteran who's been charged. He is alleged to have shot an Afghan man in the head three times in a field in Uruzgan province in May 2012. Schulz has pleaded not guilty. War crime murder in Australian law carries a potential sentence of life in prison.
According to NPR, Roberts-Smith will remain in custody overnight and make his first court appearance on Wednesday. The charges follow a military report released in 2020 that found evidence that elite Australian SAS and commando regiment troops unlawfully killed 39 Afghan prisoners, farmers, and other noncombatants.
AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett stated that the alleged conduct related to these charges is confined to a very small section of the ADF. She emphasized that the overwhelming majority of ADF members serve with honor and distinction, and today's charges are not reflective of the majority who serve under the Australian flag.
Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott expressed support for Roberts-Smith on X, questioning why alleged misconduct wasn't detected earlier in his career. Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk also commented on the arrest, calling it 'insane.' The charges stem from a joint investigation by OSI and AFP that has examined 53 cases involving ADF members.
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