Ben Roberts-Smith pictured in March 2022 outside federal court in Sydney during a defamation trial in which he unsuccessfully sued three former Fairfax group newspapers for carrying articles implicating him in war crimes in the Afghanistan war. File photo by Dan Himbrechts/EPA-EFE
April 7 (UPI) — Australia’s most decorated soldier was arrested Tuesday and charged with war crimes, namely murder, allegedly committed when he was serving with Australian special forces in Afghanistan more than a decade ago.
Australian Federal Police said in a news release that they detained the 47-year-old off a plane from Brisbane at Sydney Airport and charged him with five counts related to the murder of Afghan detainees as part of a joint AFP-Office of the Special Investigator probe.
The former soldier was held in custody pending a court appearance on Wednesday, said AFP.
Local media identified the suspect as former SAS corporal and Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith.
The AFP told a news conference the suspect would be charged with one count of the war crime of murder, one of commissioning a murder with other persons, and three of aiding, abetting, counseling or procuring a murder.
“It will be alleged the victims were shot by the accused or shot by subordinate members of the Australian Defense Force in the presence of, and acting on the orders of, the accused,” AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett said.
The killings of the victims who were unarmed are alleged to have taken place between 2009 and 2012 when Roberts-Smith was deployed in Afghanistan.
Reaction to Roberts-Smith’s arrest was split down party lines with the Labour Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declining to comment in order not to prejudice pending criminal proceedings.
Angus Taylor, the leader of the Liberal opposition, said it should not affect Australians’ respect and thankfulness for men and women in uniform “who serve this nation in some of the most difficult and dangerous circumstances imaginable.”
Tony Abbott, Liberal Party prime minister during the latter part of the war, said in a post on X that his sympathies “instinctively” lay with former special forces operating “under highly restrictive rules of engagement that meant known terrorists” were repeatedly captured and released.
“After doing their best to serve our country, dozens of former special forces soldiers should not still be in limbo years later because of ongoing investigations. Justice delayed is justice denied. If evidence is clear, and cases are strong, they should be brought and concluded without delay,” he added.
The Australian War Memorial announced a review of a display honoring Roberts-Smith in its Hall of Valor.
“The Memorial acknowledges media reports of the arrest of Ben Roberts-Smith VC MG. Accordingly, the Memorial will review the wording of the interpretive panel associated with his display. The display of his uniform, equipment and medals remains in place,” the memorial said in a statement.
A defamation case brought by Roberts-Smith in 2018 after Australian media published reports of the allegations ended in 2023 with a federal court ruling he had in fact killed several unarmed Afghans, a judgment he unsuccessfully appealed in 2025.
The case shook Australia because Roberts-Smith was a war hero, a recipient of the military’s highest honor for bravery for his lone defense of his platoon from an assault by Taliban fighters.
The judge in that case ruled that Roberts-Smith ordered rookie troops to shoot dead two unarmed Afghans to “blood” the recruits and was implicated in the killings of a farmer pushed over a cliff while handcuffed and a captured one-legged Taliban fighter. The captive’s prosthetic leg was allegedly removed as a trophy and later used to drink out of by troops.
None of the allegations, findings or evidence against Roberts-Smith have yet been tested to a degree that would meet the standard for a criminal conviction.
He has always denied all wrongdoing, calling the allegations against him “egregious” and “spiteful,” saying the alleged incidents were not criminal because they happened during combat or never took place, period.
Roberts-Smith is only the second person to be charged five years after the Brereton Report into war crimes allegedly committed by the ADF in the Afghanistan war recommended authorities investigate 39 unlawful killings and provided the names of 19 suspects.
