Australian SAS veteran Ben Roberts-Smith charged with war crimes murder in Afghanistan | World News

Australia’s most decorated living veteran is charged with killing five unarmed Afghans between 2009 and 2012.

Police have not named him but it is widely reported that he is Ben Roberts-Smith, a 47-year-old former SAS corporal.

He was awarded the Victoria Cross and Medal of Gallantry for his service in the Afghanistan – but now faces five war crimes murder charges.

Roberts-Smith was arrested when he landed at Sydney airport on Tuesday.

Police said he was denied bail and will appear in court for a bail hearing on Wednesday.

“It is alleged that the victims were detained, unarmed and under the control of the ADF [Australian Defence Force] members when they were killed,” police commissioner Krissy Barrett said

Roberts-Smith is the second veteran to be charged after a 2020 report found evidence the SAS and Australian commandos had unlawfully killed 39 prisoners, farmers and other non-combatants.

Oliver Schulz, 44, is another former Australian SAS veteran 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 crimes murder in Australian law is defined as the deliberate killing of a person who is not taking an active part in hostilities, such as a civilian, prisoner of war, or wounded soldier. This carries a potential sentence of life in prison.

Roberts-Smith sued several newspapers over articles in 2018 that accused him of various war crimes. He has consistently denied allegations of wrongdoing while on duty.

But in 2023, a civil court ruled that he likely killed non-combatants unlawfully, and in September, Australia’s highest court refused to hear his appeal.

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Criminal charges must meet higher standards; prove the allegation beyond a reasonable doubt and not based on probability.

Commissioner Barrett said the allegations “do not reflect the majority of members who served under the Australian flag with honor, with distinction and with the values ​​of a democratic nation”.