Police question decorated soldier
Australia’s most decorated soldier has been questioned by police over allegations that he kicked a handcuffed Afghan prisoner off a cliff and ordered his killing.
The former SAS soldier, Ben Roberts-Smith, 41, completed successive tours in Afghanistan and was awarded the Victoria Cross and Medal of Gallantry.
The allegations against him are part of an inquiry by police and the military into possible crimes committed by Australian special forces in Afghanistan.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported on Tuesday that RobertsSmith, who left the armed forces in 2015, had attended a formal interview with Australian Federal Police officers.
He was asked to respond to allegations made by special forces insiders that he kicked the Afghan detainee off a cliff in September 2012. The man, who was badly injured in the fall, was shot dead as he lay at the bottom of the cliff by another Australian soldier, under Roberts-Smith’s command, according to the allegations. Roberts-Smith was an SAS patrol commander at the time of the mission.
He denies any wrongdoing, arguing that the allegations are the product of toxic personal rivalries within the SAS and jealousy over his commendations.
The claims are also the subject of a defamation case brought by RobertsSmith against three newspapers, including The Sydney Morning Herald, which published articles in 2018 detailing the alleged incident. The case is due to go to trial in June.
The allegations are part of a larger inquiry by the inspector-general of the Australian Defence Force into 55 possible war crimes, including allegations of unlawful killings, committed by Australian troops in Afghanistan.
Last week the Australian Broadcasting Corporation showed video of another SAS soldier shooting dead an apparently unarmed Afghan villager as he lay on the ground. It was recorded in 2012 from the helmet of an accompanying Australian soldier. The
SAS soldier involved in that killing, known as Soldier C, was suspended from the army a week ago. Linda Reynolds, the defence minister, has referred him to the police.
Roberts-Smith told The Australian this week that he contacted the police after media reports that he was being investigated. ‘‘I asked my lawyers to contact the AFP [federal police] and offer my assistance with any investigation,’’ he said. ‘‘In accordance with that I attended the AFP’s headquarters to assist with the investigation.’’
The Sydney Morning Herald report said the police task force had witnesses who were willing to testify under oath against Roberts-Smith. A second police inquiry is looking into claims that the decorated soldier is implicated in the killing of a man at a compound in southern Afghanistan in April 2009.
The newspaper said it was not suggesting Roberts-Smith was guilty of any war crime, only that he was the subject of police inquiries.
Roberts-Smith studied for an MBA after leaving the army and is now a television executive.
Reynolds said last week that the findings of the four-year investigation by the inspector-general would be soon handed to the chief of the Australian Defence Force.
Matters under investigation by the inspector-general include the confession of an Australian commando who admitted killing an Afghan prisoner and witnessing other murders. Another case involves claims made in 2019 by Dusty Miller, an SAS medic, that an injured prisoner was taken from his care and killed in March 2012. – The Times