Ben Roberts-Smith of Australia is his nation's most decorated living war veteran, notes the Guardian. But three Australian newspapers printed allegations the 44-year-old is also a war criminal who unlawfully killed six Afghans who were either unarmed prisoners or civilians. Now, after a dramatic and months-long trial that has been big news in Australia, a judge is poised to rule on whether those newspapers defamed him. Coverage:
- Roberts-Smith served in the vaunted Special Air Services regiment and received Australia's Victoria Cross upon finishing his final tour in 2012, per the BBC. Among other things, he was credited with single-handedly overpowering Taliban machine-gunners who were firing upon his platoon.
- But in 2018, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Age, and the Canberra Times ran stories by Nick McKenzie, Chris Masters, and David Wroef accusing him of grisly misconduct from 2009 to 2012. For instance, the stories alleged he kicked a handcuffed farmer off a cliff, which knocked out the man's teeth, and then fatally shot him. Another high-profile allegation is that he killed a captured fighter who had a prosthetic leg, and the leg was then used as a drinking vessel by troops.