Ben Roberts-Smith, Australia's most decorated soldier, has been charged with suspected war crimes in Afghanistan. He faces five counts of the war crime of murder over alleged incidents between 2009 and 2012, accused of murdering unarmed civilians who were detained and not taking part in hostilities. The charges include five murders of unarmed prisoners, according to official sources. This legal action follows a 2020 military report that found evidence of elite Australian troops unlawfully killing 39 Afghan noncombatants.
Roberts-Smith was arrested at Sydney Domestic Airport on April 7 after arriving on a flight from Brisbane. He was held at the Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre at Silverwater for ten days after his arrest, according to multiple reports. Local Court Judge Greg Grogin granted him bail with strict conditions including travel restrictions, passport surrender, and a $250,000 surety. The prosecutor opposed bail, arguing Roberts-Smith was a flight risk with advanced plans to move overseas and could interfere with witnesses. Roberts-Smith's lawyer argued the flight risk was 'fanciful' and that keeping him in custody would delay the case due to difficulties accessing classified defense material.
He is the first Victoria Cross recipient charged with a war crime, according to sources. Roberts-Smith is a recipient of the Victoria Cross for Australia, the highest award for gallantry in battle for the Australian Defence Force. He is only the second Australian veteran of the Afghanistan campaign to be charged with a war crime, after Oliver Schulz, according to multiple reports.
The allegations are 'egregious' and driven by spiteful and jealous peers.
The charges follow a 2020 military report that found evidence of elite Australian troops unlawfully killing 39 Afghan noncombatants.
Roberts-Smith sued three newspapers for 2018 reports alleging he was involved in the murders of unarmed prisoners in Afghanistan. He denied the allegations and launched a multi-million-dollar defamation case, which became one of Australia's longest-running and costliest, with legal costs estimated at about US$16 million. Roberts-Smith's defence was partially bankrolled by the boss of Seven West Media. He was photographed holidaying in Bali ahead of the ruling and did not attend court, according to research.
Specific accusations in the defamation trial included media reports alleging Roberts-Smith kicked an unarmed Afghan civilian off a cliff and ordered subordinates to shoot him. He was alleged to have taken part in machine-gunning a man with a prosthetic leg and used the leg as a drinking vessel. Media reports alleged Roberts-Smith ordered a junior SAS member to kill an unarmed prisoner to 'blood the rookie'. He was also alleged to have ordered the execution of a prisoner after a weapons cache was found in Chinartu in October 2012. Allegations that Roberts-Smith dragged a prisoner with a prosthetic leg outside an Afghan compound before machine-gunning him were backed up by numerous witnesses, according to court hearings.
I shot the man because he was a 'squirter' – a Taliban insurgent fleeing the compound.
In 2023, he was found in a civil defamation trial to have committed murder and other war crimes while deployed to Afghanistan, according to the court ruling. The Federal Court upheld the 2023 defamation ruling that media reports alleging Roberts-Smith was involved in the murder of four unarmed civilians were substantially true.
An appeal to the Full Court of the Federal Court was dismissed on 16 May 2025, and the High Court refused special leave to appeal on 4 September 2025, according to court rulings. The court dismissed Roberts-Smith's appeal and a last-minute attempt to reopen the case over a secret recording. This ruling could clear the way for a criminal investigation by the Australian Federal Police, according to research.
During the defamation trial, Roberts-Smith had a courtroom meltdown in June 2021 over the allegation that he punched his one-time mistress in the face, according to multiple reports. He was accused of domestic violence against a woman in a Canberra hotel, but the justice said this allegation was not proven. The judge did not find Nine Newspapers substantiated the alleged 2018 domestic violence claim but ruled it had 'contextual truth', according to major media reports.
I do not dispute the killing occurred but claim it was lawful.
Roberts-Smith is 202cm tall and has been described as 'cool, calm and collected' in prison, with respect from some ex-servicemen inmates and staff, according to a prison source. A veteran gave his medals to MP Bob Katter to return to Canberra, expressing betrayal over Roberts-Smith's arrest, according to the veteran via Katter.
Historians have called for removal of Roberts-Smith's displays from the Hall of Valour at the Australian War Memorial, but the Memorial stated they will remain with updated wording, according to a Memorial spokesperson and historians.
Roberts-Smith faces legal costs likely to exceed $25 million (NZ$27m), according to research.
The specific evidence that led to the criminal charges beyond the defamation trial findings has not been publicly detailed. When the criminal trial will begin and what the potential penalties are if convicted remain uncertain. How Afghan victims or their families are involved in or responding to the legal proceedings is also unclear.
What impact this case will have on Australia's military justice system and international reputation is yet to be determined. Whether there are ongoing investigations into other Australian soldiers for similar war crimes in Afghanistan has not been confirmed.