Former Australian soldier to remain in jail after being charged with Afghan war crimes
By Christine Chen
SYDNEY, April 8 (Reuters) – Australia’s most decorated living soldier will remain behind bars after his legal team did not seek bail following his arrest over multiple alleged war crimes, local media reported on Wednesday.
Police on Tuesday arrested and charged Ben Roberts-Smith, 47, with five counts of war crimes in connection with the murder of five civilians in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of life in jail.
He was refused bail and taken to Silverwater Correctional Complex in Sydney’s west where he stayed overnight.
Roberts-Smith did not appear via video link at his subsequent bail hearing on Wednesday morning, local media reported.
His lawyer, Jordan Portokalli, told the court there would be no application made for his release from custody, and instead sought an in-person hearing for later in the day.
Judge Lucas Swan ordered the case to be mentioned again on June 4, meaning Roberts-Smith would remain in jail until that date if his legal team is unable to secure an earlier hearing.
Roberts-Smith, a veteran of the elite Special Air Services Regiment, was hailed as a national hero for his actions during six tours in Afghanistan from 2006 to 2012.
He was awarded several top military honours, including the Victoria Cross, the highest military decoration for members of the armed forces of Britain and the Commonwealth.
The Australian Federal Police said they would allege at trial that his victims were not taking part in hostilities at the time of their deaths and were detained, unarmed and under the control of Australian forces when they were killed.
Police would also allege the victims were either shot by the accused or his subordinates acting on his orders and in his presence.
The charges follow a joint investigation between the AFP and the Office of the Special Investigator, set up to examine allegations of criminal misconduct by members of Australia’s defence force, which began in 2021.
Roberts-Smith has consistently denied allegations of wrongdoing during his service, many of which were first reported by Nine Entertainment newspapers in a series of articles starting in 2018.
He unsuccessfully challenged the accusations in court in what became the most expensive defamation trial in Australian history, and was found on the balance of probabilities to have been involved in the murder of four Afghan civilians.
(Reporting by Christine Chen in Sydney; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
