Norstrats
  • News
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    • Gaming
    • Music
    • Sports
  • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Fitness
  • Tech
    • App & Software
    • Digital Marketing
    • Gadget
    • PC & Mobile
    • Social Media
  • Education
No Result
View All Result
Norstrats
  • News
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    • Gaming
    • Music
    • Sports
  • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Fitness
  • Tech
    • App & Software
    • Digital Marketing
    • Gadget
    • PC & Mobile
    • Social Media
  • Education
No Result
View All Result
Norstrats
No Result
View All Result

Australia’s most decorated war veteran unlawfully killed prisoners in Afghanistan, judge says

Ruchir by Ruchir
2 years ago
in News
0
Australia’s most decorated war veteran unlawfully killed prisoners in Afghanistan, judge says

File picture of Ben Roberts-Smith at a Federal Court in Sydney. The Victoria Cross recipient committed a slew of war crimes while in Afghanistan, a judge ruled on June 1, 2023.

File picture of Ben Roberts-Smith at a Federal Court in Sydney. The Victoria Cross recipient committed a slew of war crimes while in Afghanistan, a judge ruled on June 1, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP

Australia’s most decorated living war veteran unlawfully killed prisoners and committed other war crimes in Afghanistan, a judge ruled Thursday in dismissing the claims by Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith that he was defamed by media.

Federal Court judge Anthony Besanko ruled that the articles published in 2018 were substantially true about a number of war crimes committed by Mr. Roberts-Smith, a former Special Air Service Regiment corporal who now is a media company executive.

Judge Besanko found Mr. Roberts-Smith, who was also awarded the Medal of Gallantry for his Afghan war service, “broke the moral and legal rules of military engagement” and disgraced Australia through his conduct.

The allegations

Proven allegations included that Mr. Roberts-Smith, the son of a judge, killed a prisoner who had a prosthetic leg by firing a machine gun into the man’s back in 2009. He kept the man’s prosthetic as a novelty beer drinking vessel.

The accusations also included Mr. Roberts-Smith had kicked an unarmed, handcuffed farmer off a cliff into a riverbed where he directed a soldier under his command to shoot the farmer dead in 2012.

On another occasion, Mr. Roberts-Smith pressured a “newly deployed and inexperienced” soldier to kill an elderly, unarmed Afghan to “blood the rookie,” the court found.

Accusations that Mr. Roberts-Smith, who stands 6 feet, 7 inches tall, bullied soldiers and assaulted Afghan civilians were also found to be true.

File photo of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II greeting Australian Ben Roberts-Smith at Buckingham Palace in London in 2011

File photo of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II greeting Australian Ben Roberts-Smith at Buckingham Palace in London in 2011
| Photo Credit:
Reuters

Two of six unlawful killings Mr. Roberts-Smith was accused of involvement in were not proven to the civil court standard of balance of probability, the judge found.

Reports of domestic violence allegedly committed by Mr. Roberts-Smith were also found to be unproven and defamatory. But the judge found the unproven allegations would not have further damaged the veteran’s reputation.

Had such war crime allegations been made in a criminal court, they would have had to be proven to a higher standard of beyond reasonable doubt.

Roberts-Smith denies wrongdoing

Mr. Roberts-Smith, 44, had denied any wrongdoing. His lawyers had blamed “corrosive jealousy” by “bitter people” within the SAS who had run a “poisonous campaign against him.”

The civil case made claims of defamation against The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Canberra Times over their articles.

Nick McKenzie, one of the reporters responsible for the contentious articles, praised the SAS veterans who had testified against the national hero.

“Today is a day of justice. It’s a day of justice for those brave men of the SAS who stood up and told the truth about who Ben Roberts-Smith is — a war criminal, a bully and a liar,” Mr. McKenzie told reporters outside court.

“Australia should be proud of those men in the SAS. They are the majority in the SAS and they stood up for what was right and they have been vindicated,” Mr. McKenzie added.

Mr. Roberts-Smith’s lawyer Arthur Moses asked for 42 days to consider lodging an appeal to the Full Bench of the Federal Court.

The case’s legal costs have been underwritten by billionaire Kerry Stokes, executive chairman of Seven West Media where Mr. Roberts-Smith is employed.

Mr. Roberts-Smith is one of several Australian military personnel under investigation from Australian Federal Police for alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.

The first criminal charge for an alleged illegal killing in Afghanistan was made in March. Former SAS trooper Oliver Schulz was charged with the war crime of murder in the death of an Afghan who was shot in 2012 in a wheat field in Uruzgan province.

[ad_2]

Source link

Previous Post

Republican Senator Makes Baffling Claim About Reality During Bizarre Rant

Next Post

Save $100 on a regular or solar Garmin Instinct 2 or 2S; buy one from Amazon now

Next Post
Save $100 on a regular or solar Garmin Instinct 2 or 2S; buy one from Amazon now

Save $100 on a regular or solar Garmin Instinct 2 or 2S; buy one from Amazon now

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

No Result
View All Result

Recent Posts

  • Enhancing Smiles And Health: The Benefits Of Family And Cosmetic Dentistry May 27, 2025
  • What To Expect During Your Pet’s First Visit To The Animal Clinic May 26, 2025
  • The Role Of Digital Impressions In Modern General Dentistry May 25, 2025
  • The Role Of A CPA In Tax Planning And Preparation May 22, 2025
  • How General Dentists Help Prevent And Treat Gum Disease May 22, 2025

Follow Us

Popular Posts

Plugin Install : Popular Post Widget need JNews - View Counter to be installed

About Us

NorStrats

Norstrat is a global integrated communications company that provides various services such as digital marketing, social media marketing, and business.

Contact Us: admin@norstrats.net

Menu

  • Pet
  • Real Estate
  • Tip & Trick
  • How-to
  • F95zoneus

Recent News

Dentistry

Enhancing Smiles And Health: The Benefits Of Family And Cosmetic Dentistry

May 27, 2025
Pet

What To Expect During Your Pet’s First Visit To The Animal Clinic

May 26, 2025
  • About Us
  • Contact US
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy

© 2022 NorStrats. Design & Developed by F95 zone

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    • Gaming
    • Music
    • Sports
  • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Fitness
  • Tech
    • App & Software
    • Digital Marketing
    • Gadget
    • PC & Mobile
    • Social Media
  • Education

© 2022 NorStrats. Design & Developed by F95 zone

error: Content is protected !!
Go to mobile version