US EditionFormer Australian soldier charged with committing 5 war crime murders in Afghanistan
AFP says the former special forces soldier faces life in prison after a joint probe found five alleged killings of unarmed Afghan detainees.
- On Tuesday, April 7, 2026, Australian Federal Police arrested 47-year-old former SAS soldier Ben Roberts-Smith at Sydney Airport, charging him with five counts of war crime murder relating to alleged killings in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012.
- The arrest follows a joint investigation by the Australian Federal Police and the Office of the Special Investigator, building on 2023 civil court findings that allegations Roberts-Smith murdered four unarmed Afghan detainees were 'substantially true.'
- Prosecutors allege Roberts-Smith shot victims or ordered subordinates to execute them; AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett stated the conduct is confined to a 'very small section' of the Australian Defence Force.
- Remanded in custody without bail, Roberts-Smith faces life imprisonment if convicted; a NSW court set the next mention hearing for June 4.
- The prosecution marks Australia's most significant war crimes case, while the Australian War Memorial prepares to update its display of Roberts-Smith's Victoria Cross uniform and medals.
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Ben Roberts-Smith, who denies having committed any crime, previously lost a historic defamation trial in connection with the alleged murders
A former Australian soldier, indicted on Tuesday in Sydney for alleged war crimes committed in Afghanistan, will remain in prison after his lawyers renounced their demand for bail on Wednesday. ...
Decorated from the Victoria Cross, Ben Roberts-Smith was arrested on 7 April in Sydney, accused of unlawful killings committed during his missions, and liable to life imprisonment.
Ben Roberts-Smith, Australia's most decorated soldier, was charged on Tuesday, April 7 in Sydney for "war crimes," announced the police. The 47-year-old man, a former member of the country's special forces, is accused of five civilian murders when he was deployed to Afghanistan. A charge that comes after he failed to have the newspapers that had first denounced his actions condemned for defamation, and that could see him spend the rest of his da…
The arrest of Ben Roberts-Smith is making waves in Australia. The first serious allegations against him emerged eight years ago.
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