Australia’s most-decorated living soldier arrested over alleged war crimes

Former SAS soldier Ben Roberts-Smith is expected to face five war crime murder charges linked to alleged killings of unarmed Afghan men during deployments between 2009 and 2012

Sydney: Ben Roberts-Smith, one of Australia’s most highly decorated living war veterans, has been arrested over allegations of war crimes committed during his military service in Afghanistan. Australian authorities are expected to charge the former Special Air Service (SAS) corporal with five counts of war crime murder tied to incidents that allegedly took place between 2009 and 2012.

Roberts-Smith, 47, was reportedly taken into custody after arriving at Sydney Airport and is expected to appear before a court in Sydney. While police have not publicly identified the accused, multiple Australian media outlets have named Roberts-Smith as the man at the centre of the case.

Investigators allege the charges relate to the deaths of five Afghan men who were unarmed and under the control of Australian forces at the time they were killed. According to authorities, the allegations involve detainees or non-combatants who were not actively participating in hostilities when the incidents occurred. Under Australian law, a conviction for war crime murder can carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

The case is among the most serious ever brought against an Australian veteran in connection with the country’s military operations in Afghanistan. Roberts-Smith, a former member of the elite SAS Regiment, was awarded the Victoria Cross and the Medal for Gallantry, making him one of the nation’s most celebrated living soldiers.

His arrest follows years of intense scrutiny over allegations surrounding his conduct during overseas deployments. Roberts-Smith had previously launched a high-profile defamation case against Australian media organisations that reported claims he was involved in unlawful killings in Afghanistan. He lost that civil case, with courts finding key allegations were substantially true under the lower civil standard of proof.

That earlier ruling, however, did not amount to a criminal conviction. In the current proceedings, prosecutors will be required to prove the allegations beyond reasonable doubt, a much higher threshold than in civil litigation. The criminal case is therefore expected to attract significant public and legal attention across Australia and beyond.

Roberts-Smith is only the second Australian veteran of the Afghanistan conflict to face war crime murder charges. Another former SAS soldier, Oliver Schulz, has already been charged in a separate case and has pleaded not guilty. The prosecutions mark a major escalation in Australia’s efforts to hold individuals accountable for alleged unlawful killings during the two-decade war.

The charges also come in the aftermath of a landmark 2020 military inquiry that found credible evidence of 39 unlawful killings committed by Australian special forces personnel in Afghanistan. That report triggered a broader reckoning over the conduct of elite units and led to a series of criminal investigations into individual incidents.

The arrest of Roberts-Smith is likely to intensify debate in Australia over military accountability, the legacy of the Afghanistan war, and whether even the country’s most decorated soldiers can be held responsible under the law if allegations of wartime abuses are proven in court.