Former soldier Ben Roberts-Smith has been arrested on allegations of war crimes. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAPView image in fullscreenFormer soldier Ben Roberts-Smith has been arrested on allegations of war crimes. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAPFormer Australian soldier Ben Roberts-Smith arrested over alleged war crimes in AfghanistanRoberts-Smith previously failed in his attempt to sue three newspapers which published allegations he committed war crimes
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Former soldier Ben Roberts-Smith, recipient of the Victoria Cross, has been arrested at Sydney airport in relation to alleged war crimes.
Roberts-Smith was due to face court in Sydney on Tuesday. He has previously been accused in a defamation suit of murdering unarmed civilians while serving in the Australian SAS in Afghanistan.
Roberts-Smith, once lionised as Australia’s most decorated Afghanistan veteran, attempted to sue three newspapers over allegations he committed war crimes, murdered unarmed civilians and bullied his comrades.
In a long-running, expensive defamation trial, he lost, with a judge finding to the civil standard of the “balance of probabilities” that he committed four murders while serving in the Australian military.
Roberts-Smith appealed to the full bench of the federal court, but lost, and the high court refused to hear a further appeal.
Guardian Australia contacted the offices of the prime minister, attorney general and the special investigator.
