Australia’s richest woman has joined a growing list of high profile figures who have slammed the arrest of former SAS soldier Ben Roberts-Smith over alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.
Australia’s most decorated soldier spent the night in custody after he was charged with two counts of the war crime of murder and three counts of aiding or abetting the same war crime.
He was taken into custody by Australian Federal Police officers at Sydney Domestic Airport after arriving on a flight from Brisbane on Tuesday morning, in front of his teenage twin daughters.
The 47-year-old, who was held on remand on Tuesday night, is accused of the murder of unarmed civilians while deployed in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012 as well as failing to stop members of his unit from killing three others.
He will appear in NSW Bail Division Court 7 on Wednesday. Each offence he has been charged with carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Mining magnate Gina Rinehart – a long-time a vocal supporter of Ben Roberts-Smith and Australian Defence Force veterans, has joined the furious backlash over his arrest late Tuesday night.
She blasted authorities over the huge cost to taxpayers to reach this stage.
‘I don’t understand how it can be justified to spend more than $300million to try for years to bring SAS veterans, who have served our country, towards criminal proceedings, and most recently the arrest of Ben,’ Ms Rinehart said in a statement.
Gine Rinehart has joined a growing list of high profile figures who have slammed the arrest of former SAS soldier Ben Roberts-Smith
Ben Roberts-Smith has been arrested over multiple alleged war crimes
‘As the recently passed, Brigadier George Mansford succinctly stated, ‘The oath to serve your country did not include a contract for the normal luxuries and comforts enjoyed within our society.’ On the contrary, it implied hardship, loyalty and devotion to duty.
‘Have we lost sight of the fact that in our inadequately defended country, facing uncertain times, the morale of our defence force has already been brought to its lowest ebb since inception, our defence personnel numbers are inadequate, and recruitment is suffering?
‘Surely, the more than $300 million of taxpayers’ money would have been far better spent strengthening Australia’s security and keeping Australians safe from terrorism, including removing terrorists and their supporters from our country.’
‘Like many Australians, I hope that compassion and the Aussie spirit is extended to Ben and his family and his duty to our country in the hardship of war is never forgotten.’
Former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott also raised questions.
‘Of course, there are rules that have to be observed and enforced, even against soldiers in times of war. Still, it’s wrong to judge the actions of men in mortal combat by the standards of ordinary civilian life,’ Abbott tweeted.
‘If Ben Roberts-Smith transgressed, why wasn’t this picked up prior to his gallantry awards and why wasn’t any culture of brutality towards prisoners detected by his more senior officers, and dealt with quickly, rather than being allowed to fester, as has been alleged, for over a decade?
He questioned why dozens of former special forces soldiers remain in limbo years later because of ongoing investigations that have only resulted in charges in two cases.
Roberts-Smith (pictured) is expected to front a NSW court later on Tuesday
Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott also expressed support for Roberts-Smith, pictured together at 2015 Australian of the Year Awards
‘Justice delayed is justice denied. If evidence is clear, and cases are strong, they should be brought and concluded without delay,’ Abbott wrote.
‘Otherwise, people should be cleared to get on with their lives lest the process itself become the punishment.’
Former Aussie four-time world boxing champion Danny Green also lashed out over the arrest.
‘Ben Roberts-Smith you have the support of many good people,’ he posted on Instagram.
‘A shocking day when a man who was trained by the government and paid by the government to go to a war joined by the government, now arrest him in front of his two children, the same man who risked his life daily for that same government’s own children.’
‘I remain steadfast in my support,’ the senator posted online.
‘Ben, his immediate and broader defence family need the Australian people’s support right now and I will not abandon him like so many other politicians.
Controversial political activist Drew Pavlou was also quick to leap to Roberts-Smith’s defence, prompting billionaire Elon Musk to weigh in on the viral post.
‘This sounds insane,’ the owner of X and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX tweeted.
News of the arrest was welcomed by human rights groups, who called for Afghan witnesses to be given a voice during any criminal proceedings.
‘We continue to call on the Australian government to consider other meaningful forms of reparations following consultation with Afghan victims,’ Australian Centre for International Justice executive director Rawan Arraf said.
Amnesty International Australia said the charges were a critical step for accountability and justice for Afghan communities.
Australian Federal Police commissioner Krissy Barrett said the victims were not taking part in hostilities at the time of their alleged murder in the war zone.
‘It will be alleged the victims were detained, unarmed and were under the control of ADF members when they were killed,’ she told reporters.
‘It will be alleged the victims were shot by the accused or shot by subordinate members of the ADF in the presence of and acting on the orders of the accused.’
The allegations include Roberts-Smith intentionally caused the death of two people in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012.
Asked if others were involved in those matters, the Office of the Special Investigator said investigations were ongoing.
Roberts-Smith is expected to appear in a NSW court on Wednesday morning.
Footage of Roberts-Smith’s arrest showed him flanked by several police officers before being taken away by a waiting AFP car on the tarmac.
The Office of the Special Investigator, comprised of 54 investigators, launched an investigation into the soldier in 2021.
In collaboration with the AFP, it has launched 53 investigations involving allegations of war crimes by ADF members in Afghanistan, 39 of which have been provisionally finalised.
‘The OSI has been tasked with investigating literally dozens of murders alleged to have been committed in the middle of a war zone in a country 9000 kilometres from Australia,’ OSI director Ross Barnett said.
‘Because we can’t go to that country…. we don’t have access to the crime scenes… we don’t have access to the deceased, there’s no post-mortem… so it’s a very challenging starting point for all these investigations.’
Roberts-Smith will be the second Australian soldier to be charged with war crimes under domestic law after another ex-SAS soldier, Oliver Schulz, was charged in 2023 over the war crime of the 2012 murder of a young man in Afghanistan.
Schulz has maintained his innocence. His matter is yet to go to trial, but the case could provide a blueprint for Roberts-Smith.
A Federal Court judge previously found Roberts-Smith was responsible for a number of killings in a blockbuster defamation trial against Nine newspapers.
The articles were published in 2018 and the alleged war criminal has maintained his innocence.
Justice Anthony Besanko’s findings were on the balance of probabilities, rather than the criminal standard of beyond reasonable doubt.
Justice Besanko found Roberts-Smith machine-gunned an unarmed prisoner in the back, taking the man’s prosthetic leg back to Australia to use as a beer drinking vessel, during a 2009 raid on a compound codenamed Whiskey 108.
He also found one of the newspapers’ central claims – that Mr Roberts-Smith had kicked an unarmed and handcuffed man, Ali Jan, off a 10-metre cliff and then ensured he was shot – was true.
