A man widely considered Australia’s most decorated living soldier could spend the rest of his life in prison after authorities accused him of committing war crimes while he was in Afghanistan as a member of the country’s elite Special Air Service Regiment.
Police on Monday arrested Ben Roberts-Smith, 47, at Sydney Airport after disembarking from a flight arriving from Brisbane.
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said Mr. Roberts-Smith will be charged with five counts of murder as a war crime, charges carrying a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
“It will be alleged the victims were not taking part in hostilities at the time of their alleged murder in Afghanistan,” Ms. Barrett said during a press conference following the arrest. “It will be alleged the victims were detained, unarmed, and were under the control of [Australian Defense Forces] members when they were killed.”
The Afghans were shot by Mr. Roberts-Smith or by his subordinates who were acting on his orders, she said.
The investigation that led to his arrest was conducted by the Australian Federal Police and the Office of the Special Investigator, an independent government agency established to investigate allegations of war crimes committed by Australian military personnel in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016.
In 2017, the publication of a book on Australian special forces in Afghanistan and an internal army investigation sparked media interest. Mr. Roberts-Smith was accused of bullying fellow soldiers into committing atrocities and murdering an Afghan civilian.
He returned fire with a 2018 defamation lawsuit. It failed. Two appeals, the second to Australia’s Supreme Court, foundered as evidence mounted against him.
In 2020, Australian Army investigators published their findings. That year, Mr. Roberts-Smith’s former unit, 2 Squadron SASR, was officially disbanded by the Australian Army.
Nick McKenzie, a journalist who wrote extensively on the case, told broadcaster 9 News Australia, “He took out a historic defamation case and he lost that, and in the process he unearthed … fresh evidence against himself.”
Some Australian politicians retain their admiration for the decorated soldier.
Sen. Pauline Hanson, accused by some critics of holding nationalist and White supremacist views, said she remains steadfast in her support for Mr. Roberts-Smith following his arrest.
“Ben was disgracefully arrested in front of his twin 15-year-old girls. He will be held in jail for seven days,” Ms. Hanson posted on X. “He gets one bail application. If that application fails, they can hold him for two years.”
She denounced the inquiry that led to Monday’s arrest, saying the Australian Federal Police and the Office of the Special Investigator “spent $300 million over 10 years to get to this point.”
Mr. Roberts-Smith joined the Australian Army in 1996 and was later selected for the country’s Special Air Service Regiment. In addition to service in East Timor and Iraq, he deployed to Afghanistan six times between 2006 and 2012.
He was already an experienced, decorated combatant when, on June 11, 2010, he and an SASR patrol dropped from a helicopter directly into a militant ambush.
He was awarded the Victoria Cross, Australia’s highest military decoration for drawing enemy fire, then single-handedly storming two Taliban machine-gun nests to save his pinned-down patrol.
“His selfless actions in circumstances of great peril while facing intense fire directly enabled his patrol to break the enemy’s hold on the target area and seize the initiative. With total disregard for his own safety, Corporal Roberts-Smith displayed the highest order of gallantry,” the award citation stated.
He was received by the late Queen Elizabeth II and is the subject of a special exhibit, complete with a mannequin of him in combat gear, at Canberra’s Australian War Memorial.
After leaving the army in 2013 Mr. Roberts-Smith — who, at six foot seven, athletic and good looking — appeared the ideal hero, was named “Australian Father of the Year.” In a surprise professional pivot, took on executive positions in broadcasting.
For Australia, which takes pride in its armed forces, his downfall has been wrenching.
“It is an extraordinary and historic fall from grace,” Mr. McKenzie told TV viewers. “Ben Roberts-Smith was the face of Australia’s contribution to Afghanistan … many parts of Australia wanted to wish these allegations away and yet here we are today, he is facing the most serious of charges.”
Ms. Barrett said the allegations are confined to “a very small section of our trusted and respected [Australian Defense Forces,] which keeps this country safe.”
“The overwhelming majority of our ADF do our country proud,” she said. “Today’s charges are not reflective of the majority members who serve under our Australian flag with honor, distinction and with the values of a democratic nation.”
The drama is a familiar one for Western nations involved in campaigns in East and Central Asia. There, facing tough but culturally alien foes who blend in with civilian populaces, atrocities have shocked.
The most infamous took place in Vietnam in 1968, when U.S. infantrymen rampaged through the village of My Lai, killing hundreds of civilians, mainly women and children.
Individuals in special units with a hunter-warrior ethos – including SEALs, Green Berets, and Australian and British SAS – have also been accused of atrocities, albeit on smaller scales.
“Some units do serious stuff — SEALs are known to embrace the dark side — but it would be untrue to say they are all dark monsters,” said Michael Yon, a former U.S. Green Beret. “Some are, and we are all human, so there is some distribution — no question about it.”
He warned about the use of prescription drugs by some units as potential psychological change agents, but insisted morality must be to the fore.
“One thing I always keep in mind is, ‘How does this brief at the Pearly Gates?’” said Mr. Yon, who during the Iraq and Afghan conflicts embedded with multiple frontline units as an independent journalist/analyst. “War is an ugly thing but even if you have a Medal of Honor and you murder someone in handcuffs, you should go to jail.”
Ms. Hanson said she would not “abandon him like so many other politicians” have done.
“Ben [and] his immediate and broader defense family need the Australian people’s support right now,” she wrote on X.
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