The Victoria Cross medal of valor receiver, Ben Roberts-Smith has been proven by an Australian Court that, he is probably responsible for war crimes against innocent civilians in Afghanistan, as reported by three Australian news journals in 2018.
The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and Canberra Times were all sued for damages by Roberts-Smith, a former member of the elite Special Air Services Regiment (SASR), after they published claims that, he had killed Afghan civilians during his deployments there.
Smith asserted that, the articles damaged his credibility because they painted him as a person who “broke the moral and legal rules of military engagement, disgraced his country and the Australian army, and broke the law of war.”
Judge Anthony Besanko wrote in his summary judgment that “the respondents had established the substantial truth” for multiple of the accusations, including that Roberts-Smith assault on unarmed and handcuffed Afghan man off a cliff in 2012, and then gave two soldiers in his unit, the command to neutralize the seriously wounded man.
Judge Besanko disclosed that, the journalists also showed the veracity of claims that, Smith killed an Afghan crippled man in 2009, and also gave the orders to kill a man who had buried himself in a tunnel at Whiskey 108, a bombed-out building.
The case captivated Australia for 110 days of proceedings, that were postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic, and concluded with final statements in July 2022. The publication opted the “truth” defense, the report read.
A total of 40 witnesses, including current and former troops, testified, some of whom Roberts-Smith claimed of dishonesty and hatred. The verdict was devastating for the veteran, according to Melbourne Law School professor and media law expert Andrew Kenyon.
“His name will be very much linked in the public mind with the murders that the judge said he committed directly or ordered through other actions,” Kenyon said. “In that way, it’s a classic defamation case where the strongest result is in fact to change the reputation of the person who brought the case.”
The judge determined that, Roberts-Smith, who was not present for the ruling, also harassed other soldiers, but he declared that other accusations of misconduct, such that, he participated in two other deaths in Afghanistan in 2012, and that he assaulted his lover, were unfounded.
However, the government requested a delay in publishing the entire judgment due to concerns about national security, so it won’t be released until go ahead has been given by the government.
The verdict comes, as the behavior of the Australian military has increasingly been in the spotlight. The historic Brereton Report, published in 2020 with extensive redactions, revealed “credible evidence” that, special forces personnel had murdered 39 civilians in Afghanistan without authorization.
The report did not name any soldiers, but it did propose that authorities look into 23 occurrences comprising the killing of “prisoners, farmers, or civilians” between 2009 and 2013 which involved 19 current or former members of the special forces.
An Office of the Special Investigator was then created, and in March, the Special Investigator accused a former soldier of murder in connection with the demise of an Afghan man. He has been the first current or former member of the Australian military to be accused of war crimes. If convicted, he would receive a prison term of life.
The legal team for Smith-Roberts has indicated that, they may think about filing an appeal, and they have 42 days to do so before notifying the court.
