Roberts-Smith arrest leak referred to corruption body
The agency responsible for investigating war crimes has asked the federal anti-corruption commission to investigate leaks to the media about the arrest of Ben Roberts-Smith.
The Victoria Cross recipient was arrested in April and accused of killing or ordering the killing of five unarmed detainees while serving in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012.
The former SAS soldier has vowed to use the upcoming trial to clear his name.
Appearing before a parliamentary budget hearing on Tuesday, the head of the Special Investigations Bureau said he was surprised that the media had information about Roberts-Smith’s arrest.
Chris Moraitis, a war crimes investigator, said the Australian Federal Police had written to the National Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate.
“This is an issue that concerns me. The media appears to know about the events and so we are taking steps to determine what happened there,” he said at the hearing on Tuesday night.
“We believe it was an unauthorized disclosure.
“I’m surprised this happened because we’re usually pretty good at keeping a low profile.”
When asked how the media knew about the arrest in advance, the director general replied: “Good question.”
The federal corruption watchdog has not yet responded to the agencies’ request.
Mr. Moraitis also explained that the investigator had previously attempted to contact Attorney General Michelle Rowland about the arrest, but the message went to voicemail.
The investigator’s director of investigations, Ross Barnett, said the force had made careful planning for the arrest and the option of detaining Roberts-Smith at Sydney Airport was warranted.
“In this particular case, the operational planning process did not support the option of detention by appointment,” he said.
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