Alleged war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith is expected to make a formal application for bail this Friday, following more than a week of incarceration in one of Australia's most notorious maximum-security facilities. The 47-year-old former SAS soldier was arrested on April 7 and faces serious charges related to the murder of five unarmed non-combatants during his deployment in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012.
Court Appearance and Bail Bid
Roberts-Smith is scheduled to appear at Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court on Friday, where he will seek release on bail. He is expected to attend the hearing via audio-visual link from Silverwater Correctional Centre in Sydney's west, where he has been held on remand. Friday will mark ten full days that the Victoria Cross recipient has spent behind bars at this high-security prison.
Detailed Allegations and Charges
Australia's most decorated living soldier is accused of directly murdering two Afghan individuals and aiding, abetting, or procuring the murder of three additional victims. Court documents reveal specific allegations, including that Roberts-Smith ordered another soldier, identified only as Person 4, to kill Mohammed Essa at Kakarak in Uruzgan Province in April 2009.
During that same raid, he is also alleged to have murdered another unarmed civilian named Ahmadullah. Further charges relate to a September 2012 raid on the village of Darwan, also in Uruzgan Province, where Roberts-Smith allegedly ordered the murder of a man named Ali Jan.
The remaining two charges stem from incidents in Syahchow, Uruzgan. There, Roberts-Smith is accused of jointly murdering an unnamed Afghan prisoner with another soldier, known only as Person 68, and ordering the execution of another individual. Notably, court documents indicate that both deceased men were officially listed as enemies killed in action at the time.
Legal Background and Proceedings
The war crime allegations against Roberts-Smith were first publicly exposed by Fairfax Media, now owned by Nine, in 2018. In response, the war veteran launched a defamation lawsuit against the newspaper in the Federal Court. However, he suffered a significant legal defeat when a judge found that the accusations of murder were, on the balance of probabilities, true.
Roberts-Smith subsequently failed to overturn these findings through appeals to the full Federal Court and the High Court. The transition from a civil defamation case to criminal charges represents a critical shift, as prosecutors must now prove the allegations beyond reasonable doubt to secure a guilty verdict.
Broader Context and Other Cases
Roberts-Smith is the second former SAS soldier to face the courts on war crime charges related to the Afghanistan conflict. Oliver Schultz was charged in 2023 with the war crime of murder for the killing of a young man named Dad Mohammad in a wheat field in Uruzgan Province in 2012. Both accused individuals have consistently maintained their innocence regarding these serious allegations.
The upcoming bail hearing marks a pivotal moment in this high-profile case, which has drawn significant public and media attention due to Roberts-Smith's status as a decorated military figure and the grave nature of the charges against him.
