Ben Roberts-Smith, a decorated former special forces soldier, has been arrested in relation to multiple alleged murders of unarmed Afghan civilians and prisoners, marking a significant moment in Australian legal history.
Roberts-Smith, 47, was arrested at Sydney Airport on Tuesday morning after arriving on a flight from Brisbane. Australian Federal Police officers were waiting at the arrivals gate for QF515 when it landed just after 11 a.m.
The AFP is scheduled to hold a media conference regarding the arrest at 12:15 p.m. on Tuesday.
The arrest follows a five-year investigation that secured cooperation from SAS eyewitnesses who allege Roberts-Smith executed, and directed junior soldiers to execute, at least half a dozen defenceless detainees during his time in Afghanistan between 2006 and 2012.
Allegations Against Roberts-Smith
The investigation focused on claims, strongly disputed by Roberts-Smith, involving allegations he:
When Roberts-Smith allegedly ordered the 2012 execution, he was the most decorated Commonwealth soldier to serve in Afghanistan. If proven, the allegations against the Victoria Cross recipient could result in the stripping of his medals and a life sentence in prison.
Roberts-Smith has already unsuccessfully contested claims he committed war crimes in a defamation case he fought all the way to the High Court. The High Court in September refused him leave to appeal a full Federal Court decision that backed the 2023 judgment of Federal Court judge Anthony Besanko that The Age and Sydney Morning Herald had proved the allegations true to the civil standard.
Roberts-Smith, the son of a former West Australian Supreme Court judge and major general, joined the army in 1996 and became Australia’s most famous modern soldier after he was awarded the VC for his actions in a 2010 battle.
He has always denied any wrongdoing and is expected to fight criminal charges.
Official sources, speaking anonymously, said the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) had recently contacted Attorney-General Michelle Rowland seeking authorisation of a prosecution, as required when an alleged war crimes case is deemed worthy of criminal charges.
The case against Roberts-Smith is sprawling, but not circumstantial: its foundation is in the witness accounts of decorated SAS soldiers and Afghan War veterans.
One SAS eyewitness told this masthead that he and other veterans had decided to assist the investigation because no Australian soldier was above the law. “Well, it’s all about the truth, and I think, honour. And we lost men in Afghanistan… By telling the truth,” he said, speaking anonymously.
He alleged the war crime he witnessed involved a defenceless detainee and occurred “after the dust has settled”.
“There’s no fog of war, there’s no bullets flying around … this was completely contrary to our mission, we weren’t there to kill civilians or people who didn’t deserve to die.”
The Office of Special Investigations (OSI) was created in early 2021 to investigate the involvement of the SAS regiment in Afghan War crimes.
Over the past five years, a team of detectives from various Australian homicide and elite squads quietly built the case against Roberts-Smith. The OSI detectives tapped phones, planted listening devices, conducted raids, and convinced SASR soldiers to become prosecution witnesses.
On Tuesday morning, 17 years after he allegedly executed an elderly man with a prosthetic leg in Afghanistan, Roberts-Smith was handcuffed and taken to a holding cell.
He is expected to appear before a NSW local court judge later today.
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