Ben Roberts-Smith, a former Special Air Service Regiment corporal and recipient of the Victoria Cross, was a national hero in Australia. Now, a judge has ruled that he unlawfully killed prisoners and committed war crimes in Afghanistan
A judge in a civil case says a decorated Australian veteran unlawfully killed prisoners and committed other war crimes in Afghanistan. The judge dismissed claims by Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith that he was defamed by media who published articles about the allegations in 2018. The proven allegations included that Roberts-Smith killed a prisoner who had a prosthetic leg, which he kept as a drinking vessel. The court also concluded Roberts-Smith had kicked a man off a cliff into a riverbed where an SAS colleague shot him to death in 2012. Roberts-Smith has denied wrongdoing. Several Australian military personnel are under investigation for alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.