Global Courant
STORY: Ben Roberts-Smith, one of Australia’s most decorated soldiers, has lost his defamation case against three newspapers accusing him of war crimes in Afghanistan.
The case relates to articles published in the Sydney Morning Herald, the Age and the Canberra Times which, citing other soldiers who said they were there, accused Roberts-Smith of being involved in the murder of six Afghans during the broadcast.
Their allegations included that he shot dead an unarmed Afghan teen spotter and kicked a handcuffed man off a cliff before ordering him shot.
Roberts-Smith had called the reports false and sued the newspapers for unspecified damages.
He accused them of portraying him as someone who had “breached the moral and legal rules of military involvement.”
But a court in Sydney ruled in favor of the newspapers on Thursday.
“In the light of my conclusions, any action must be rejected.”
Federal Court Judge Anthony Besanko said they have proven four of the six murder charges and therefore any defamation suit should be dismissed.
Out of court, Australian investigative journalist Nick McKenzie said that the soldiers who spoke out had won their case.
“I would just like to say that today is a day of justice. It is a day of justice for those brave men of the SAS who stood up and told the truth about who Ben Roberts-Smith is – a war criminal, a bully and a liar. Australia should be proud of those men in the SAS. They are the majority in the SAS and they stood up for what was right, and they won.”
The case has put a spotlight on the secretive wartime behavior of Australia’s elite SAS forces.
Roberts-Smith, was regarded as a national hero having won several top military awards, including the Victoria Cross, for his actions during six tours of Afghanistan from 2006 to 2012.
He later pursued a post-military career as a sought-after public speaker and media executive.
His portrait hangs in the Australian War Memorial.
