According to Australian media, the arrest took place on Tuesday morning at the Sydney airport. Federal police confirmed that A 47-year-old former member of the Australian Defense Force will be charged with the murder of five people in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012. For each of these acts, he faces life imprisonment.
Roberts-Smith he achieved national hero status after being awarded Australia's highest military honors, including the Victoria Cross. He received these awards for his actions during six missions in Afghanistan, which he undertook in 2006–2012.
Accusations and investigation
From the beginning, the former soldier vehemently denied any allegations of irregularities during his service. Some of these accusations were first revealed in a series of articles published by Nine Entertainment in 2018. They included: allegations that Roberts-Smith allegedly shot an unarmed Afghan teenager and threw a handcuffed man off a cliff before ordering his killing.
In 2021, an official investigation was launched by the Soldiers Intelligence Agency and the Office of Special Investigator. These bodies were established to investigate allegations of war crimes committed by Australian forces during the conflict in Afghanistan.
Defamation suit and abuse reports
Roberts-Smith tried to defend his reputation in the most expensive defamation lawsuit in Australia's history, brought against The Age, Federal Capital Press and Fairfax Media newspapers. In 2023, the Federal Court found that the editorial offices had proven four of the six murder charges against the former soldier. The final appeal was dismissed by the Supreme Court in September 2025.
In 2020, a report was released that found credible evidence that members of the Australian Special Air Regiment (SAS) were responsible for the deaths of dozens of unarmed prisoners during the war in Afghanistan.
The police reported that Ben Roberts-Smith is due to appear in a New South Wales local court on Tuesday.
