Ben Roberts-Smith ‘never planned’ to flee overseas
Ben Roberts-Smith had been eyeing job opportunities abroad before his arrest, but his partner said the war veteran had always planned to return home if criminal charges were laid.
The former SAS soldier was arrested on 7 April and charged with killing or ordering the killing of five unarmed detainees while serving in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012.
Roberts-Smith was released from prison on bail on Friday after her father, Len Roberts-Smith, a former Supreme Court of Western Australia judge, posted $250,000 bail.
Documents from the 47-year-old’s bail hearing in Sydney’s Downing Center Local Court revealed details of plans he and his partner Sarah Matulin had made to open a business overseas on Thursday.
In a statement submitted to the court, Ms Matulin wrote that they wanted to leave Australia to create some normality in their lives, but that her partner always planned to return if he was charged.
“We never planned to run away from this and always planned to face criminal charges if discovered,” he wrote.
“We have had numerous conversations that he would voluntarily surrender himself to police custody if requested.”
In March 2023, Roberts-Smith contacted the general manager of an outdoor weatherization firm in Chiang Mai, Thailand, to meet business contacts over a beer.
By October, the couple became serious about moving abroad and contacted a friend who had an avocado farm in Myanmar to discuss opportunities, Ms. Matulin wrote.
Later that month, Roberts-Smith began inquiring about purchasing a fitness and wellness business in Spain and began the visa process to move there.
Ms Matulin said it was no secret that they wanted to move to Spain because they had openly discussed it with family and friends.
In her own affidavit, Roberts-Smith said she had flown abroad 28 times since 2018; to this Queen II. That includes a taxpayer-funded trip to England for Elizabeth’s funeral in 2022.
He wrote that even though he knew he was being investigated for war crimes, he always returned.
His lawyer, Karen Espiner, stated in another statement that her client had offered to deliver himself to the police station and be arrested by “appointment” if the police announced that he would be charged.
The lawyer said Roberts-Smith did not tell the Special Detective Constable investigating the war crimes allegations about his Spanish plans because there were no restrictions on his travel at the time.
The Victoria Cross recipient has repeatedly declared his innocence, including during an unsuccessful libel case against broadcaster Nine over articles detailing a series of alleged war crimes.
The war veteran’s former employer, Kerry Stokes, funded the libel suit, while Roberts-Smith later announced she had to liquidate all her assets to fund the unsuccessful appeals.
His parents also coughed up $400,000 to cover his legal fees, the affidavit states.
“I have no assets and my personal savings are significantly depleted,” he wrote.
The affidavit states that Roberts-Smith receives a biweekly pension of $4,500.
He is accused of opening fire with a machine gun on Aghan prisoner Mohammed Essa during a raid on a compound called Whiskey 108 in April 2009 and ordering the execution of his son Ahmedullah to “shed the rookie’s blood”.
Ahmedullah had a prosthetic leg.
The then-SAS soldier placed firearms on the bodies to claim they were enemy combatants, according to court documents seen by AAP.
In the village of Darwan in August 2012, Roberts-Smith is accused of kicking a handcuffed Ali Jan off a 10-metre cliff and then dragging him to the creek bed and ordering him to be shot.
Two months later in Syahchow, he allegedly lined up two prisoners in a cornfield and shot one of them with another soldier.
To cover up what he had done, he ordered one of his subordinates to shoot another before throwing a grenade over the bodies, according to court documents.
The matter will be brought to court again on June 2.
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