Accused war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith ‘categorically’ denies allegations

Accused war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith has issued his first public statement since his release from a Sydney jail on bail last week to categorically deny the allegations against him and plead for privacy, hitting out at police over what he described as his “deliberately sensational arrest” at Sydney Airport last week.

Roberts-Smith was released from Silverwater Correctional Complex on Friday evening, having spent 10 days in custody. His release was marked by chaotic scenes as NSW Corrective Services officers sought to escort him out through a back exit of the facility to avoid a waiting media throng.

Speaking from the Gold Coast on Sunday, Roberts-Smith said he categorically denied the accusations against him.

“For the past 10 years my family and I have been subject to a campaign to convince Australians that I’ve acted improperly in my service in Afghanistan,” he said.

“As I’ve always maintained, I categorically deny all these allegations. While I would’ve preferred these charges not have been bought, I will be taking this opportunity to finally clear my name.”

The decorated SAS soldier was arrested last week following a five-year investigation by the secretive Office of the Special Investigator, a team of experienced state and federal police detectives set up in 2021 to investigate the involvement of Australian troops in alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.

He also pleaded for privacy, particularly for his children, whom he said had “already unfortunately suffered” due to what he called the “deliberate, sensational arrest” last week. It was, he said, “an unnecessary spectacle”.

Roberts-Smith was charged with multiple war crimes over the alleged murders of unarmed Afghan civilians and prisoners.

Court documents released after the hearing on Friday reveal prosecutors will allege that five people killed by, or on the orders of, the decorated soldier had been unarmed and handcuffed, and evidence was then staged to portray their deaths as legal.

Four Australian soldiers admitted they killed Afghan nationals on the orders of Ben Roberts-Smith and have given detailed evidence to prosecutors in the case against him, court documents allege.

The testimony of the soldiers, who have been granted immunity from prosecution, was revealed in a police statement of facts.

The documents also revealed new details about one of the alleged victims, including how he was punched in the stomach and pushed to the ground while handcuffed by the Victoria Cross recipient, who then ordered the man to be shot.

On Sunday Roberts-Smith maintained he was proud of his service in Afghanistan.

“While I was there I always acted within my values, within my training, and within the rules of engagement,” he said.

In granting bail on Friday, Judge Greg Grogin found the expected lengthy delays of the coming trial, coupled with issues conferring with his legal team and accessing sensitive documents from prison, meant Roberts-Smith should be released.

“There is no way anyone today can predict what the outcome of the trial would be,” he said.

His subsequent release from Silverwater is now the subject of an internal review after Corrective Services officers actively blocked photographs being taken on the roadside, though NSW Corrections Minister Anoulack Chanthivong said the attempts to avoid media were “focused on reducing risk”.

In 2018 Roberts-Smith launched an unsuccessful civil defamation action against this masthead. The Federal Court determination, upheld by the Full Court of the Federal Court, was that Roberts-Smith had murdered unarmed detainees and civilians.

During Friday’s bail hearing Roberts-Smith’s barrister Slade Howell said information to emerge from the criminal trial would be vastly different to what was heard in the long-running defamation case.

“By the time all the evidence is disclosed or procured, we say a very different picture may emerge as to the strength of the case,” Howell said.