Australia’s most decorated war veteran unlawfully killed prisoners in Afghanistan, judge says

An Australian judge ruled that Ben Roberts-Smith unlawfully killed prisoners and committed other war crimes in Afghanistan, in a defamation case the war veteran lodged against the media

Australia’s most decorated living war veteran unlawfully killed prisoners and committed other war crimes in Afghanistan, a judge ruled Thursday in dismissing the claims by Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith that he was defamed by media.

Federal Court judge Anthony Besanko ruled that the articles published in 2018 were substantially true about a number of war crimes committed by Mr. Roberts-Smith, a former Special Air Service Regiment corporal who now is a media company executive.

Judge Besanko found Mr. Roberts-Smith, who was also awarded the Medal of Gallantry for his Afghan war service, “broke the moral and legal rules of military engagement” and disgraced Australia through his conduct.

Proven allegations included that Mr. Roberts-Smith, the son of a judge, killed a prisoner who had a prosthetic leg by firing a machine gun into the man's back in 2009. He kept the man's prosthetic as a novelty beer drinking vessel.

The accusations also included Mr. Roberts-Smith had kicked an unarmed, handcuffed farmer off a cliff into a riverbed where he directed a soldier under his command to shoot the farmer dead in 2012.

On another occasion, Mr. Roberts-Smith pressured a “newly deployed and inexperienced” soldier to kill an elderly, unarmed Afghan to “blood the rookie," the court found.

Accusations that Mr. Roberts-Smith, who stands 6 feet, 7 inches tall, bullied soldiers and assaulted Afghan civilians were also found to be true.