Australia’s most-decorated living war veteran was apprehended and charged Tuesday over allegations he committed war crimes in Afghanistan.
The BBC reports Ben Roberts-Smith – who left the Australian Defence Force (ADF) in 2013 – was arrested at Sydney airport and will face court over five counts of the war crime of murder.
The criminal charges carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
The former former Special Air Service (SAS) officer will spend the night in a cell ahead of a bail hearing on Wednesday.
A previous defamation judgement in 2023 found he had killed several unarmed Afghans.
The 47-year-old denies all wrongdoing, and has previously said the allegations against him – which have not yet been assessed at a criminal standard – were “egregious” and “spiteful.”
The civil trial was the first time in history any court has examined allegations of war crimes by Australian forces.
It will be alleged in court Roberts-Smith intentionally caused the death of a person and aided, abetted, counselled or procured another person to intentionally cause the death of a person on or about April 12, 2009 at Kakarak, Afghanistan.
Other charges will also be made before the court.
AFP notes should Roberts-Smith be found guilty, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II shakes hands with Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith (2R) during a reception for living recipients of the Victoria and George Cross medals, in the Picture Gallery at Buckingham Palace in London on May 16, 2018. (JOHN STILLWELL/POOL/AFP via Getty)
He received the Victoria Cross – his country’s highest honor for military service – for “most conspicuous gallantry in action of great peril” while serving in Afghanistan in 2010, as Breitbart News reported.
Roberts-Smith was engaged in a helicopter assault to capture a senior Taliban commander when his unit came under heavy fire from entrenched enemy forces. By all accounts, he stormed the enemy position without any regard for his personal safety, took control of an enemy machine-gun position, and then kept going, allowing his unit to drive Taliban forces out of the area.
Roberts-Smith was also awarded a Medal for Gallantry for his actions as a scout and sniper while under heavy fire from a much larger enemy force in 2006.
Australia deployed 39,000 troops to Afghanistan over two decades as part of US- and NATO-led operations against the Taliban and other militant groups.
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