The most decorated Australian soldier, Ben Roberts-Smith, arrested for war crimes

Ben Roberts-Smith, the most decorated Australian soldier in history, was arrested Tuesday morning at Sydney Airport on five counts of war crimes, according to the Australian Federal Police. The charges relate to the killing of five people in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012.

Roberts-Smith, at 47 years old, has been hailed as a national hero and has received high military honors, including the Victoria Cross, for his actions during missions in Afghanistan. He has consistently denied the allegations of illegal acts, which were initially revealed by Nine Entertainment newspapers in 2018. Among the serious allegations are the shooting of an unarmed Afghan teenager and the pushing of a handcuffed man off a cliff, subsequently ordering his killing.

In 2023, a Federal Court judge found that the newspapers had proven four of the murder charges against him. An investigation was opened in 2021 to examine war crimes committed by Australian defense forces in Afghanistan. Roberts-Smith will appear Tuesday before a local court in New South Wales.