Australia's Most Decorated Soldier Ben Roberts-Smith Charged with Five War Crime Murders in Afghanistan"
Ben Roberts-Smith, Australia's most decorated living soldier and a Victoria Cross recipient, was arrested at Sydney Airport on Tuesday and charged with five counts of the war crime of murder. The 47-year-old former Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) corporal was taken into custody by Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers shortly after arriving on a flight from Brisbane. He was formally charged later in the day and remanded overnight at Silverwater Correctional Complex. He is due to appear in court on Wednesday, April 8.7eba3e AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett confirmed the arrest, stating that the charges relate to the alleged murders of five unarmed Afghan civilians and detainees between 2009 and 2012 while Roberts-Smith was deployed in Afghanistan. The maximum penalty for each count is life imprisonment.589e6d "The overwhelming majority of our Australian Defence Force personnel do our country proud," Barrett said, emphasising that the case stems from a joint investi...