Australian Afghan War Veteran Denies Allegations of War Crimes

SYDNEY - Australia’s most decorated Afghanistan veteran will deny alleged war crimes Monday at the start of his high-stakes defamation trial against one of the country’s biggest media companies. Ben Roberts-Smith will seek to prove he was unfairly portrayed in newspaper stories as having broken the moral and legal rules of war. He is seeking damages in Australia’s Federal Court from Nine Entertainment Co. and three journalists. 

Newspaper reports in 2018 alleged Ben Roberts-Smith murdered a man in Afghanistan and encouraged his colleagues to drink beer from his victim’s prosthetic leg. He was also accused of killing an unarmed Afghan shepherd by kicking him off a cliff and ordering his fellow soldiers to shoot him.  The former Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) trooper, who received the Victoria Cross, Australia’s highest military honor, in 2011, has denied any wrongdoing. He said articles published by The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Canberra Times newspapers portrayed him as a war criminal who disgraced his country by murdering Afghan civilians. Roberts-Smith said the stories were “baseless” and “flawed.”  His lawyer told the hearing Monday that he was “an exceptional soldier” but was the victim of “dishonest journalism” and “corrosive jealousy and lies.”