Australia’s Victoria Cross recipient arrested over alleged war crimes in Afghanistan

CANBERRA: One of Australia’s most decorated soldiers, Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith, was arrested on Tuesday over allegations of murdering unarmed prisoners while serving in Afghanistan, officials and local media reported.

The Australian Federal Police said the 47-year-old soldier has been linked to multiple killings between 2009 and 2012. Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett stated that the victims were not participating in hostilities at the time of their alleged deaths.

Roberts-Smith is expected to face five counts of “war crime — murder,” with authorities alleging that the victims were either directly shot by him or on his orders by subordinate soldiers.

A former member of the Special Air Service Regiment, Roberts-Smith was previously celebrated as Australia’s most distinguished living war hero, having received the Victoria Cross for “conspicuous gallantry” during operations in Afghanistan. His achievements included meeting Queen Elizabeth II and being honoured at the Australian War Memorial.

However, his reputation came under scrutiny in 2018 when investigative reports by The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald linked him to the alleged murder of Afghan civilians by Australian troops. Reports accused him of acts including kicking an unarmed civilian off a cliff, ordering the machine-gunning of a man with a prosthetic leg, and other atrocities.

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Australia deployed 39,000 troops to Afghanistan over two decades under US and NATO-led operations. A 2020 military investigation later found that special forces personnel unlawfully killed 39 Afghan civilians and prisoners, highlighting summary executions, torture, and body count competitions.

Amid mounting pressure, the Australian government appointed a special investigator to determine whether current and former soldiers should face criminal charges. Roberts-Smith has consistently denied wrongdoing and previously launched multi-million-dollar lawsuits against the newspapers that reported on the allegations.