Australia's most decorated living soldier, Ben Roberts-Smith, has lost a historic defamation case against three newspapers that accused him of war crimes in Afghanistan. The civil trial, which lasted 110 days, was the first time a court assessed accusations of war crimes by Australian forces.
Justice Anthony Besanko ruled that four of six murder allegations against the former Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) soldier were substantially true. These included kicking a handcuffed farmer off a cliff before he was shot dead, shooting a captured Taliban fighter in the back at least ten times and using his prosthetic leg as a drinking vessel, and ordering or agreeing to the murders of two prisoners to 'blood' rookie soldiers.
The judge found that additional allegations of unlawful assault on captives and bullying of peers were also true. However, two other murder allegations, reports of assault on a woman with whom he had an affair, and a threat against a junior colleague were not proven. Mr Roberts-Smith, who left the defence force in 2013, has not been charged criminally.
Speaking outside the Federal Court in Sydney, investigative reporter Nick McKenzie called the judgment 'a day of justice for the brave men of the SAS who stood up and told the truth' and 'some small justice for the Afghan victims'. The Afghanistan Human Rights and Democracy Organisation praised investigative journalism for uncovering the truth.
Media magnate Kerry Stokes, who employs Mr Roberts-Smith at Seven West Media and loaned him money for the case, said the judgment did not 'accord with the man I know'. Mr Roberts-Smith, who was not present for the verdict, had offered to hand in his Victoria Cross as collateral for the loan.
