Until a few years ago, Ben Roberts-Smith was one of Australia’s most celebrated war heroes. Now he will stand trial for alleged war crimes committed in Afghanistan and remains in custody after his legal team declined to seek bail.
A yearslong investigation led to Roberts-Smith’s arrest at Sydney airport. The 47-year-old former special forces soldier is charged with five counts of murder as a war crime over his alleged role in the killing of Afghan civilians in Uruzgan Province between 2009 and 2012. Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said it’s alleged the victims were detained, unarmed and under the control of ADF members when they were killed.
An ongoing probe into Australian troops’ conduct in Afghanistan has already resulted in another soldier being charged, following a military inquiry that found credible information suggesting elite Australian forces were involved in the allegedly unlawful killing of 39 Afghan prisoners — farmers and civilians. Ross Barnett, one of the special investigators working with federal police, said the inquiry faces particular challenges because the alleged crimes occurred years ago and investigators lack access to crime scenes, photographs, site plans, measurements, recovered projectiles and blood-spatter analysis they would normally obtain.
The first allegations against Roberts-Smith surfaced in media reports in 2018 after some fellow soldiers spoke to journalists. Gideon Boas, a former senior legal adviser to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, said insider testimony is crucial in war-crimes prosecutions. Roberts-Smith fought back, bringing a defamation case against the media company that first reported the accusations. That civil trial heard evidence from former defence force servicemen who had served with him and concluded Roberts-Smith likely committed war crimes.
He maintains his innocence. The upcoming criminal trial will test the allegations to a higher standard of proof. If convicted, Roberts-Smith could face a life sentence. For NPR News, Kristina Kukolja in Melbourne.