Ben Roberts-Smith has committed a number of war crimes while deployed in Afghanistan. Federal judge Anthony Besanko ruled that, according to The Canberra Times. With that, the nation’s most decorated soldier lost the much-publicized defamation case against three Australian newspapers. The three newspapers are The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Canberra Times. The trial lasted 110 days. Judge Besanko found it overwhelmingly likely that Roberts-Smith was involved in four of six murder charges: Wearing handcuffs, a farmer was allegedly kicked off a cliff by Roberts-Smith. The fall knocked out the man’s teeth, who was then shot and killed. Roberts-Smith allegedly ordered two murders to initiate new soldiers. Roberts-Smith is said to have shot a suspected disabled Taliban soldier several times in the back. The Afghan man’s prosthetic leg was taken as a trophy and later used by the troops as a drinking vessel. Ben Roberts-Smith (left) with a former colleague who drank from the prosthetic leg of a dead Afghan man in 2012. In two cases, Judge Besanko held that the newspapers had no evidence to press charges of murder. Allegations that Roberts-Smith had assaulted a woman with whom he was having an affair were dismissed. The same applies to accusations that he allegedly threatened new colleagues. But accusations of violence against prisoners of war and bullying of fellow soldiers were found by the judge to be true. In the defamation case, Roberts-Smith claims that five of the murders occurred in conflict. The sixth murder he claims never took place. So who is Ben Roberts-Smith? Photo: Rick Rycroft / AP In the period 2001-2021, Australia’s most decorated living veteran had five tours to Afghanistan. During the period, Ben Roberts-Smith has been awarded the Victoria Cross and the Medal for Gallantry. Both are medals awarded to soldiers who show heroism and self-sacrifice beyond what is expected in combat. Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II has met Ben Roberts-Smith several times. Photo: Anthony Devlin / Reuters Now the veteran stands as one of three former Special Air Service soldiers Australian prosecutors may bring charges against, writes The Age. War crimes In 2015, social anthropologist Samantha Compvoets got inside the environment of the Australian special forces. The stories she told shook the island nation. And resulted in the Brereton Report. The report’s committee concluded in 2020 that there is evidence that 25 Australian special forces were involved in the unlawful killings of 39 prisoners, farmers and other civilians. In 2019, then-Army Attorney General David William McBride was charged with leaking classified documents alleging misconduct in Afghanistan. It provoked reactions. Photo: Rod McGuirk / AP – None of these alleged crimes were committed in the heat of battle, wrote James Gaynor. He was Inspector General of the Australian Defense Force back in 2020. – The alleged victims were non-combatants or no longer combatants. “Countless crimes” Roberts-Smith has not been convicted of the charges in the Australian criminal court, where the burden of proof is stricter. The case was evidence of “countless crimes” committed by foreign actors in Afghanistan, a Taliban spokesman said after the ruling. Furthermore, he expressed that he has no faith that any international law will follow this up. Australia’s Defense Minister Richard Donald Marles has refused to comment on the case. He points out that the matter is a civil matter.
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Australia’s most decorated soldier lost the “trial of the century” – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
