Australia was stunned on Tuesday after its most decorated living soldier, Ben Roberts-Smith, was arrested and charged over the alleged killing of unarmed civilians during his deployment in Afghanistan.
The 47-year-old former member of the Australian Defence Force was taken into custody at Sydney Airport by the Australian Federal Police. Authorities say he faces five counts of war-crime murder linked to the deaths of five civilians between 2009 and 2012. Each charge carries a potential life sentence.
According to investigators, the victims were allegedly detained, unarmed and under the control of Australian troops at the time they were killed. Police claim Roberts-Smith either fired the fatal shots himself or ordered subordinates to carry out the killings while he was present.
Once celebrated as a national hero, Roberts-Smith received several of Australia’s highest military honours, including the Victoria Cross, for his actions during six tours in Afghanistan between 2006 and 2012.
However, serious allegations about his conduct began surfacing in 2018 through investigative reports by Nine Entertainment newspapers. Among the claims were that he shot an unarmed Afghan teenager and pushed a handcuffed detainee off a cliff before ordering his execution.
Roberts-Smith has repeatedly denied the accusations. He fought the media reports in a high-profile defamation lawsuit, but in 2023 a judge at the Federal Court of Australia ruled that several of the murder allegations were substantially proven. His final appeal was later dismissed by the High Court of Australia in 2025.
The case forms part of a wider investigation launched in 2021 by the Office of the Special Investigator, which is examining alleged war crimes committed by Australian troops during the long war in Afghanistan.
Investigators say the process has been difficult because they cannot access the alleged crime scenes in Afghanistan, making it harder to collect traditional forensic evidence.
Human rights group, Amnesty International, described the arrest as a major step toward accountability, urging authorities to pursue all credible allegations.
Roberts-Smith is expected to appear before a New South Wales Local Court for a bail hearing on Wednesday.
