Ben Roberts-Smith arrives on the Federal Courtroom in Sydney, on June 9, 2021. Australia’s most embellished dwelling struggle veteran, Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith, dedicated a slew of struggle crimes whereas in Afghanistan, together with the illegal killings of unarmed prisoners, a choose dominated on Thursday, June 1, 2023.
Rick Rycroft/AP
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Rick Rycroft/AP
Ben Roberts-Smith arrives on the Federal Courtroom in Sydney, on June 9, 2021. Australia’s most embellished dwelling struggle veteran, Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith, dedicated a slew of struggle crimes whereas in Afghanistan, together with the illegal killings of unarmed prisoners, a choose dominated on Thursday, June 1, 2023.
Rick Rycroft/AP
SYDNEY — Australia’s most embellished dwelling struggle veteran unlawfully killed prisoners and dedicated different struggle crimes in Afghanistan, a choose dominated Thursday in dismissing the claims by Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith that he was defamed by media.
Federal Courtroom choose Anthony Besanko dominated that the articles printed in 2018 have been considerably true about plenty of struggle crimes dedicated by Roberts-Smith, a former Particular Air Service Regiment corporal who now could be a media firm government.
These allegations included that Roberts-Smith, who was additionally awarded the Medal of Gallantry for his Afghan struggle service, killed a prisoner who had a prosthetic leg by firing a machine gun into the person’s again in 2009.
He stored the person’s prosthetic as a novelty beer ingesting vessel.
The accusations additionally included Roberts-Smith had kicked an unarmed, handcuffed farmer off a cliff right into a riverbed the place an SAS colleague shot the farmer lifeless in 2012.
Stories of home violence allegedly dedicated by Roberts-Smith have been discovered to be unproven and defamatory. However the choose discovered this is able to not have additional broken the veteran’s fame.
Roberts-Smith had made claims of defamation in opposition to The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Canberra Occasions over their articles.
His lawyer Arthur Moses requested for 42 days to contemplate lodging an enchantment to the Full Bench of the Federal Courtroom.
Roberts-Smith’s authorized prices have been underwritten by billionaire Kerry Stokes, government chairman of Seven West Media the place Roberts-Smith is employed.
Roberts-Smith is one among a number of Australian army personnel below investigation from Australian Federal Police for alleged struggle crimes in Afghanistan.
The primary felony cost for an alleged unlawful killing in Afghanistan was made in March. Former SAS trooper Oliver Schulz was charged with the struggle crime of homicide within the demise of an Afghan who was shot in 2012 in a wheat subject in Uruzgan province.
