WAR CRIMES INVESTIGATION – AUSTRALIA

Roberts-Smith charged over Afghan deaths

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Original article by Paul Karp, Josh Hohne
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 8-Apr-26

Former SAS soldier Ben Roberts-Smith has spent his first night in jail after being arrested on Tuesday and officially charged with committing war crimes in Afghanistan. The Victoria Cross recipient will appear in a NSW court for a bail hearing on Wednesday, after being charged with five counts of murder; it follows a five-year investigation by the Office of the Special Investigator and the Australian Federal Police into alleged war crimes by members of the Australian Defence Force in Afghanistan. It will be alleged that Roberts-Smith was involved in the murder of five Afghan civilians and prisoners between 2009 and 2012. He lost a defamation case in 2023 over media reports which alleged that he had been involved in war crimes in Afghanistan.

CORPORATES
SPECIAL AIR SERVICE REGIMENT, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL INVESTIGATOR, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE FORCE

AFP war crimes probe collapses over risk of tainted evidence

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Original article by Nick McKenzie
The Age – Page: Online : 14-Jun-23

A new joint taskforce will investigate alleged war crimes in Afghanistan that involved Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith. The taskforce comprises detectives from the Office of the Special Investigator and a team of Australian Federal Police investigators who are not connected to a previous five-year AFP inquiry into the war crimes allegations. The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions had concluded in March that Roberts-Smith should not be prosecuted as a result of the earlier inquiry, due to concerns that the AFP investigators may have unwittingly used tainted evidence; that evidence comprised information from the separate war crimes inquiry headed by Paul Brereton.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL INVESTIGATOR

Campbell apologises for Afghanistan war crimes

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Original article by Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 20-Nov-20

The Brereton report into war crimes by Australian Defence Force personnel in Afghanistan has recommended that 19 serving and former soldiers be referred for prosecution. Paul Brereton, the Assistant Inspector-General of the ADF, found that there is evidence that 25 special forces soldiers were involved in the murder of 39 prisoners and civilians between 2009 and 2013. He also concluded that the elite solders had attempted to cover up their crimes by planting weapons on the victims. Defence Force Chief Angus Campbell has responded to the report by abolishing the SAS squadron at the centre of the allegations; he has also announced a review of all honours and awards received by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE FORCE, SPECIAL AIR SERVICE REGIMENT