May 16, 2025, 2:19 AM
May 16, 2025, 12:50 AM
Ben Roberts-Smith loses defamation appeal over war crimes accusations
Tragic
- Ben Roberts-Smith, a highly decorated war veteran, lost his appeal regarding allegations of war crimes stemming from his military service in Afghanistan.
- The Federal Court determined the claims against him were substantially true, relating to the unlawful deaths of four Afghans.
- This landmark case reflects ongoing accountability issues for military personnel and has sparked discussions on military conduct and ethics.
In 2023, Australia witnessed a significant legal event when Ben Roberts-Smith, the country's most-decorated living war veteran, lost an appeal regarding serious allegations of war crimes committed during his military service in Afghanistan. He had sued several newspapers for publishing articles which accused him of unlawfully killing four unarmed Afghans while deployed between 2009 and 2012. The defamation case marked a historic moment as it was the first instance where a court assessed claims of war crimes by Australian forces against one of their own. After a lengthy civil trial lasting over 120 days, Justice Antony Besanko of the Federal Court ruled in June 2023 that the newspapers' allegations were
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