Accused war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith to seek freedom
Victoria Cross recipient and alleged war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith is expected to bid for bail for freedom after spending more than a week in jail.
The 47-year-old former SAS soldier was sensationally arrested on April 7 and charged with murdering five unarmed non-combatants while serving in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012.
He was remanded in custody and is expected to appear in Sydney Downing Center Local Court on Friday to apply for bail.
He is expected to appear via audiovisual link from prison.
Australia’s most decorated living soldier is accused of directly killing two Afghan men and aiding, abetting or causing the murder of three more.
According to court documents, in April 2009 in Kakarak in Uruzgan Province, Roberts-Smith allegedly ordered another soldier, known only as Person 4, to kill Mohammed Essa.
He also allegedly killed another unarmed civilian named Ahmadullah during the same raid.
Roberts-Smith is alleged to have ordered the killing of another man, Ali Jan, during a raid on the village of Darwan, also in Uruzgan Province, in September 2012.
The remaining two charges relate to the events in Syahchow, Uruzgan.
There Roberts-Smith is accused of killing an unnamed Afghan prisoner, along with another soldier known only as Person 68, and ordering the execution of another.
Court documents reveal that both men who died were listed as enemies killed in action.
War crime allegations against Roberts-Smith were first revealed by Fairfax Media, now owned by Nine, in 2018.
The war veteran sued the newspaper for libel in the Federal Court, but suffered a crushing defeat when the judge found on the balance of probabilities that the murder charges were true.
He failed to overturn these findings on appeal to the Federal Court and the Supreme Court.
The shift from civil to criminal charges means prosecutors must prove allegations beyond a reasonable doubt for a guilty verdict to be issued.
Roberts-Smith is the second former SAS soldier to face trial on war crimes charges.
Oliver Schultz was indicted in 2023 for war crimes for the murder of a young father Mohammed in a wheat field in Uruzgan Province in 2012.
Both war crimes defendants maintained their innocence.
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