Roberts-Smith backers call for charges to be dropped

Protesters blocked city streets to condemn the “injustice” of Australia’s most decorated living soldier being accused of multiple war crimes.

About 150 people carrying Australian flags and red flags gathered at noon on Sunday as Waltzing Matilda and the national anthem played on the steps of Victoria’s Parliament House.

Attendees at the rally, organized by the far-right National Labor Alliance, came together to show their support for Ben Roberts-Smith and other members of the Special Air Service Regiment who are under investigation for alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.

Some wore war medals as banners and signs proclaimed Roberts-Smith “a warrior, not a criminal.”

The 47-year-old Victoria Cross recipient was charged with five war crimes in connection with the murder in early April and has denied all allegations.

The decorated veteran distanced himself before the rally took place, saying neither he nor his family had any involvement in the event.

“What’s happened is a total injustice,” National Labor Alliance leader Matt Trihey told the crowd, as participants called for the charges to be withdrawn.

“We are here for the veterans whose legacy, honor and integrity have been questioned by an illegitimate government acting against the will of the people.”

The National Labor Alliance’s publicly stated goals include a moratorium on all immigration and the “preservation of Western culture and identity.”

A small group of counter-protesters confronted the group, which was separated by two lines of police.

Carrying their own banners, the group attempted to suppress the rally by chanting slogans such as “There has always been Aboriginal land, it always will be” and “Nazi filth from the streets”.

Roberts-Smith supporters then took to the streets, blocking crowded corridors and trams as curious onlookers watched.

One rally attendee was seen yelling at people in the outdoor dining area and telling them to “go back where you came from.”

A spokesman for the former SAS soldier said he and his family were in no way linked to the Melbourne rally.

“Mr Roberts-Smith and his family are not involved in this rally in any way, are not affiliated with its organisers, and have not been consulted by the group in question,” he told AAP.