An Australian "war hero" who received the Commonwealth's highest military honor for his service in the Afghanistan war has been indicted on war crime charges related to the killing of five unarmed civilians.
According to Reuters and other outlets on Wednesday (local time), the Australian Federal Police arrested and charged Ben Roberts-Smith (48), a retired Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) soldier, with murder under five counts of war crimes.
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw said Roberts-Smith is accused of involvement in the unlawful killing of several Afghan civilians during his deployment to Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012. Commissioner Kershaw added that detained, unarmed Afghan civilians were allegedly shot by Roberts-Smith or by subordinates acting on his orders.
Roberts-Smith is a former soldier who was deployed to Afghanistan six times. In recognition of his distinguished service, he was awarded the Victoria Cross (VC), the Commonwealth's highest military honor, in 2011 and granted an audience with Queen Elizabeth II. His portrait hangs in the Australian War Memorial, and he was widely celebrated as a war hero, including being named "Father of the Year."
However, in 2018, Australian media alleged that he had handcuffed an unarmed Afghan civilian, kicked him off a cliff, and then ordered subordinates to shoot him. Roberts-Smith filed a defamation lawsuit against the media outlet, but in 2023, an Australian court ruled that he had indeed killed civilians during his Afghan deployment.
The case stems from a 2020 Australian government special inquiry report on Afghan war crimes. Justice Paul Brereton released a report finding that 25 current and former Australian special forces soldiers deployed to Afghanistan had unlawfully killed 39 civilians. However, the investigation has faced significant obstacles since the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan in 2021 made securing witnesses difficult. If convicted in this trial, Roberts-Smith faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.