An Australian soldier has been charged with war crimes. Here’s why it took so long

NewsWorldAustralasiaAn Australian soldier has been charged with war crimes. Here’s why it took so longThe allegations against Ben Roberts-Smith first came to light in 2017Paul Taucher The Conversation & Dean AszkielowiczTuesday 07 April 2026 10:23 BSTBookmarkBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":false,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"b2952859","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/australia-soldier-war-crimes-ben-roberts-smith-b2952859.html","title":"An Australian soldier has been charged with war crimes. Here’s why it took so long"}}CloseAustralia's most-decorated soldier Ben Roberts-Smith arrested at Sydney airportOn The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly international news dispatchEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice{"className":"sc-1ge0fwe-0","newsletterData":{"regSourceNewsletter":"IND_On_The_Ground_Newsletter","regTitle":"On The Ground","subscriptionGroup":"on_the_ground","subscriptionGroupId":"14806361-6435-4d19-b06e-05326605fb01","pathPrefix":["/news/world/europe","/news/world/middle-east","/news/world/australasia","/news/world/africa","/asia"],"associatedAuthors":["Bel Trew","Sam Kiley"],"title":"On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents","mobileTitle":"Get a weekly international news dispatch","lengthenedMobileTitle":"Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents","imageSrc":"https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/images/newsletters/onTheGround1_1.png","newsletterKey":"receiveOnTheGround","regSourceSection":"Australasia","regSourceMethod":"NSCs"}}After landing in Sydney airport following a fligh...