Australian war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith lost an appeal on Friday against a landmark decision that found he committed war crimes in Afghanistan, according to local media reports.
Former SAS commando Roberts-Smith has been fighting to salvage his tattered reputation since 2018, when newspapers unearthed allegations, he took part in the murder of unarmed Afghan prisoners.
On Friday, the federal court justices upheld the original verdict and ordered Roberts-Smith to pay the legal costs of the media outlets he sued for defamation, which were estimated to be upwards of AUD$25 million (USD$16 million), ABC News reported.
Justice Nye Perram withheld the reasons for the decision, saying there were national security implications the government must consider before they are released.
The arrest is part of ongoing investigations into alleged war crimes committed by Australian troops in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016.
A published summary said there was sufficient evidence to support findings Roberts-Smith had “murdered four Afghan men”. Roberts-Smith said he would now fight to clear his name in Australia’s High Court – his last avenue of legal appeal.
“I continue to maintain my innocence and deny these egregious spiteful allegations,” he told local media in a statement. “We will immediately seek to challenge this judgement in the High Court of Australia.”
Roberts-Smith argued in his appeal that the judge “erred” in the way he assessed some of the evidence.
Decorated soldier
Born in Perth, Ben Roberts-Smith was described as 'Australia's most famous and distinguished living soldier'. He was awarded the Victoria Cross, Australia's highest military honour, for 'conspicuous gallantry' during his time in Afghanistan.
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The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Canberra Times shredded this reputation with a series of reports in 2018. The papers reported Roberts-Smith had kicked an unarmed Afghan civilian off a cliff and ordered subordinates to shoot him. He was also said to have taken part in the machine-gunning of a man with a prosthetic leg, which was later brought back to an army bar and used as a drinking vessel.
The 2023 court ruling ultimately implicated Roberts-Smith in the murder of four unarmed Afghan prisoners. Civil court matters such as defamation have a lower standard of proof than criminal trials. Roberts-Smith has not faced criminal charges.
So-called ‘war on terror’
Australia deployed 39,000 troops to Afghanistan over two decades as part of US and NATO-led operations against the Taliban and other armed groups.
A 2020 military investigation found special forces personnel “unlawfully killed” 39 Afghan civilians and prisoners, revealing allegations of summary executions, body count competitions and torture by Australian forces.
