Ben Roberts-Smith, Australia's most decorated living soldier, has travelled overseas more than two dozen times since learning eight years ago he was being investigated for war crimes, yet prosecutors still claimed he was a flight risk. Since 2018, the Victoria Cross recipient has visited the UK, the US, New Zealand, Germany, France, Switzerland, Fiji, Indonesia, Myanmar, Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand. He has made six trips to Queenstown, four to Bali, and spent time in Honolulu, Los Angeles, Nadi and San Francisco, also flying through Houston, Kuala Lumpur and Doha.
Government-Funded Travel and Arrest
The federal government even paid to send Roberts-Smith to London for Queen Elizabeth II's funeral at Westminster Abbey in September 2022, as a holder of the nation's highest bravery award. Roberts-Smith's most recent international journey was a week-long holiday in Fiji taken in January, three months before he was arrested without warning at Sydney Airport. In total, Roberts-Smith has travelled overseas 25 times since 2018 while knowing he was the subject of war crimes investigations that could culminate in him spending the rest of his life in jail.
Surveillance and Bail Opposition
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Office of the Special Investigator (OSI) have monitored Roberts-Smith's communications, and he has been under physical surveillance. The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) nonetheless opposed Roberts-Smith being granted bail, citing concerns he was a flight risk who might leave Australia and not return. According to an affidavit Roberts-Smith filed in his bail application, the 47-year-old has regularly been stopped by Australian immigration officials during his international trips.
'On departing and arriving in Australia through Border Force-controlled immigration ports, I have routinely and on countless occasions been stopped and asked to wait while my status was confirmed,' he wrote. 'It appeared clear to me this was occurring because I was being investigated by the AFP/OSI.'
Plans to Move to Spain
Roberts-Smith was planning to move to Spain with his 34-year-old partner, Sarah Matulin, to pursue business opportunities in the fitness and wellness industry. The former corporal, who holds the Medal for Gallantry in addition to his VC, could not continue 'to put his life on hold, living in limbo,' but always intended to return to face court if necessary. Ms Matulin wrote in an affidavit that the couple had begun discussing moving overseas from Queensland several years ago 'to try to create some normalcy in our lives.'
'Ben and I had agreed that neither his life, nor mine, could continue to remain on pause in Australia waiting for the [OSI] to charge him,' she said. Roberts-Smith was charged on April 7 with five counts of 'war crime – murder' allegedly committed while serving with the Special Air Service Regiment in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012. He was arrested that morning in front of Ms Matulin and his twin 15-year-old daughters when their Qantas flight from Brisbane touched down in Sydney.
Details of Arrest and Legal Proceedings
Roberts-Smith had been taking the girls on a shopping trip during the Easter school holiday, no one in the group checked baggage and all had return tickets. Daily Mail previously revealed Roberts-Smith had repeatedly offered to present himself to authorities if they intended to lay charges against him. Roberts-Smith had a flight from Brisbane to Spain via Singapore booked for April 11, four days after his apprehension, with a return ticket for June 30. Ms Matulin was to fly out a day later in case Roberts-Smith was held up at the airport in Singapore and the couple was separated.
'We had been given no prior warning that the police intended to arrest Ben at some stage in April 2026,' she said in her affidavit. 'If we knew this was going to happen, we would not have tried to travel overseas. Even though we knew the OSI was progressing its investigation and that in early 2026 we understood they had formally referred the matter to the CDPP, there was still no indication that anything would happen quickly. We have been waiting and waiting for years and nothing has happened until now.'
Roberts-Smith spent 10 nights in custody before appearing via audio-video link at Downing Centre Local Court to make a bail application which was opposed by the CDPP. Crown prosecutor Simon Buchen SC submitted Roberts-Smith had made 'advanced plans to relocate overseas' and had withheld that information from authorities.
Background of Investigations
Roberts-Smith swore an affidavit stating he had known he was under investigation by the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force (AGADF) as far back as 2018. 'In various forms I have known about allegations that I have committed war crimes for over eight years,' he wrote. 'I deny these allegations and have always done so.' Roberts-Smith knew the AFP had been investigating him in 2018, the same year Nine newspapers published a series of reports accusing him of war crimes.
Following Justice Paul Brereton's AGADF report into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan being released in November 2020, the federal government established the Office of the Special Investigator (OSI). The OSI, with officers from the AFP, commenced a fresh inquiry into Roberts-Smith's conduct in Afghanistan called Operation Emerald-Argon. Roberts-Smith sued Nine for defamation in the Federal Court and in June 2023 Justice Anthony Besanko found the publisher's allegations were substantially true on the balance of probabilities.
Interactions with Authorities
In November last year, the OSI's senior investigating officer Stephen McIntyre invited Roberts-Smith through his lawyer to be interviewed over allegations raised in the defamation proceedings and other incidents. Roberts-Smith's solicitor Karen Espiner told Mr McIntyre her client did not wish to be interviewed. Mr McIntyre informed Roberts-Smith through his lawyer that the OSI planned to 'refer all holdings' to the CDPP in early 2026.
Roberts-Smith said in his affidavit he was stopped by Border Force officers 'for longer than normal' last August when he returned to Brisbane from a holiday in Bali. 'My mobile phone was seized from me and a full search of my phone and bags was undertaken,' he wrote. 'I was eventually allowed to leave the airport and return home.' When Roberts-Smith was flying back to Brisbane from Thailand last October, he was detained at the airport by Thai authorities for about two hours. On his arrival in Nadi in January, he was pulled up for questioning by Thai authorities.
'I was told I had been stopped because my name had 'been flagged on an Interpol watch list',' Roberts-Smith wrote in his affidavit. 'After approximately 1.5 hours I was told it must have been a name mix-up and was allowed to leave.'
Partner's Affidavit and Future Court Dates
Ms Matulin said she had known Roberts-Smith was under investigation for war crimes for about six years. 'I have had countless discussions with Ben since the very start of our relationship in around 2020 that if he was ever criminally charged he would remain in (or return to) Australia to face charges,' she wrote in her affidavit. 'We have had countless discussions that if he was ever requested to return to do so, he would hand himself into police custody voluntarily to assist with the process. Ben and I have travelled overseas and travelled interstate frequently knowing that at any moment police could arrest Ben in relation to these matters. We have never planned to run away from this and have always intended to face the criminal charges if they presented. Whenever we have travelled we have always returned to our home in Australia and we have never discussed not going home.'
Ms Matulin said she and Roberts-Smith had retained a lawyer in Spain to assist with their plans but their visa applications had not been filed by April 11. 'Both Ben and I had discussed the planned move to Spain openly over our mobile phones and with few friends and family,' she wrote in her affidavit. 'It was not a secret that we were moving to Spain.'
Roberts-Smith's solicitor Karen Espiner revealed in her own affidavit that her client had informed her in February about his plans to move to Spain with Ms Matulin. 'He told me that after considering it for some time he and Sarah had decided to move to Spain to pursue some business opportunities and that some of his former special forces colleagues lived there and enjoyed,' she said. Ms Espiner and Roberts-Smith had discussed whether to notify the OSI about his pending move but given there were no restrictions on his ability to travel, decided he was under no obligation to tell them.
'Mr Roberts-Smith knew that if the OSI contacted him, through me, notifying of an intention to criminally charge him, he would be required to return to Australia for this to occur,' she said. 'He told me that he had absolutely no difficulty doing this and that he would immediately return to Australia without hesitation but said he could not continue to put his life on hold, living in limbo, just sitting around waiting to be charged.' Roberts-Smith's case is set to be mentioned in Downing Centre Local Court on June 2.
