Australian soldier accused of war crimes in Afghanistan granted bail

An Australian court granted bail on Friday to former soldier Ben Roberts-Smith, charged with murdering unarmed prisoners captured in Afghanistan following a sweeping war crimes probe.

The towering soldier became a household name across Australia when he was awarded the Victoria Cross in 2011, a medal reserved for only the most courageous wartime exploits.

But a landmark military report in 2020 revealed grave allegations against Australian troops sent to fight Taliban forces, accusing elite units of torture, summary executions and “body count” competitions.

This month Roberts-Smith was charged with five counts of “war crime — murder”, with police alleging he was complicit in a string of unlawful killings between 2009 and 2012.

After ten days behind bars he was granted bail, with Judge Greg Grogin telling a Sydney court that the former soldier faced the prospect of “years and years” in jail before his case went to trial.

In court via video link, Roberts-Smith appeared impassive as he was shown on screen in a green prison tracksuit.

His lawyer Slade Howell argued it was unacceptable to keep the soldier behind bars as the case slowly wound through the courts.

“It will take many, many years and will have many twists and turns,” he said.

The prosecution, in turn, argued the grave nature of the alleged crimes warranted strict bail conditions.

“The applicant is accused of either killing or directing his subordinates to kill unarmed detainees in the custody of Australian armed forces,” prosecution lawyer Simon Buchen said.

Should Roberts-Smith be found guilty, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

From war hero to defendant

The decorated soldier met Queen Elizabeth II, had his portrait hung at the Australian War Museum, and was even honoured as the nation’s “father of the year”.

But the war hero’s reputation was called into question in 2018, when a series of news reports linked him to the alleged murder of unarmed Afghan prisoners by Australian troops.

The soldier had allegedly kicked an unarmed Afghan civilian off a cliff and ordered subordinates to shoot him, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

He was also said to have taken part in the machine-gunning of a man with a prosthetic limb which he later used as a drinking vessel with other soldiers.

Roberts-Smith has staunchly maintained his innocence throughout, launching legal action against the newspapers who aired the allegations.

But his efforts to sue The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald for slander would backfire, with a judge finding in 2023 many of the journalists’ claims were “substantially true”.

Such civil trials carry a lower burden of proof than the criminal proceedings Roberts-Smith now faces.

Australia deployed 39,000 troops to Afghanistan over two decades as part of US- and Nato-led operations against the Taliban and other militant groups.