RT.com
02 Jun 2023, 04:14 GMT+10
A court has deemed that the reporting on alleged war crimes was sufficiently accurate
Australia's most-decorated living soldier, Ben Roberts-Smith, lost a defamation case on Thursday against three newspapers that had accused him of committing war crimes while serving in his country's armed services in Afghanistan.
Roberts-Smith was alleged in reporting by The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Canberra Times in 2018 of using an unacceptable level of force on several occasions between 2009 and 2012, which included the killings of unarmed Afghan civilians and prisoners.
"It's a day of justice for the brave men of the SAS (Special Air Service) who stood up and told the truth about who Ben Roberts-Smith is: a war criminal, a bully and a liar," said investigative reporter Nick McKenzie following the verdict, which was handed down by Justice Anthony Besanko. "Today is a day of some small justice for the Afghan victims of Ben Roberts-Smith."
Roberts-Smith has been seeking damages against the newspapers for reporting that he had committed illegal acts.
Among the claims made in newspapers against him, Roberts-Smith was said to have kicked a handcuffed man off a cliff before ordering the injured prisoner shot dead. The newspapers also reported that he had ordered a young soldier to kill an unarmed, elderly Afghan man to "blood the rookie."
Justice Besanko found that the newspapers' accounts of four murder allegations against Roberts-Smith were accurate based upon the civil case standard of the "balance of probabilities." Another two claims of murder remained unproven.
The verdict is, however, likely to make Roberts-Smith liable for substantial costs to the newspapers. The trial saw statements from more than 40 witnesses, including several current and former SAS soldiers. He claimed that witnesses who testified against him were peddling mistruths and that some were soldiers envious of his achievements on the battlefield.
In 2011, Roberts-Smith was awarded Australia's highest military accolade - the Victoria Cross - for his actions in fighting off a Taliban assault on his platoon.
Thursday's verdict follows the 2020 release of the Brereton Report, which detailed evidence that Australian armed forces had illegally killed at least 39 civilians and prisoners in Afghanistan between 2007 to 2013.
On Wednesday, Australia's defense forces chief, General Angus Campbell, told Australian government figures in Canberra that he had been informed by Washington that the report might trigger the United States' Leahy Law, which prohibits its armed forces from working closely with foreign military units found to have violated human rights.
(RT.com)
Get a daily dose of Australian Herald news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Australian Herald.
More InformationLAHAINA, Hawaii: This week, officials are expected to begin lifting restrictions on entry to the burn zone in Lahaina, Hawaii, ...
LONG ISLAND, New York: On Thursday, a bus carrying members of a high school marching band traveling to a music ...
GAINESVILLE, Florida: Local police report stopping children, ages 10 and 11, who had driven their family car 200 miles, in ...
Washington, D.C.: This week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit suspended 96-year-old Judge Pauline Newman from hearing ...
NEW YORK: On Tuesday, former U.S. Congressman Stephen Buyer was sentenced to 22 months in prison for trading on inside ...
NEW YORK: This week, the Virginia-based Students for Fair Admissions, founded by affirmative action opponent Edward Blum, sued the U.S. ...
© Provided by Xinhua Afghan players, while passionate about rugby, held diverse professions, from construction workers to drivers. Without official ...
The US will try to ?drag? Japan and South Korea into the bloc within the next five years, Viktor Sobolev ...
Indore (Madhya Pradesh) [India], September 25 (ANI): After India put the finishing touches on a thumping 99-run win over Australia ...
Mike Pezzullo, one of Canberra's most powerful and certainly most controversial public servants, cannot survive the revelation of the trove ...
New Delhi [India], September 25 (ANI): India middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer thanked everyone "who stood by him" following a match-winning ...
The Wallabies have suffered a record-breaking defeat to Wales at the Rugby World Cup. This represents Australia's worst result in ...