This former special forces soldier has been decorated several times for his “courage” and “bravery” in Afghanistan. In a few years, press revelations and a trial that has just ended have revealed another face: that of a tyrant, a liar and a killer.
His name is Ben Roberts-Smith. He is 44 years old. And Australians saw him until recently as a true “war hero”. He is the country’s most decorated soldier, for his “bravery” and “courage” in Afghanistan, where he was a patrol leader and sniper. The Australians intervened in the country after the attacks of September 11, 2001, alongside the Americans.
It was in 2018 that trouble began for Ben Roberts-Smith. That year, three Australian newspapers published articles and surveys. “Ben Roberts-Smith is not who he says he is”.
He’s not a hero. He is a liar, a bully and a killer.
In a few years, Ben Roberts-Smith went from hero to executioner
And the newspapers detail. 2009: Ben Roberts-Smith kills a disabled man who was hiding in a tunnel. He then exhibits the prosthetic leg of this Afghan like a trophy. He even uses it to drink. Kind of like a glass of beer. 2012: Ben Roberts-Smith pushes a handcuffed Afghan farmer to the edge of a cliff. He knocks him down by kicking him in the chest. Then he has him executed by his men. He will also ask a young soldier to kill in front of him. To introduce him to blood. All this comes out in the press. The elite soldier denies en bloc and he attacks the newspapers for defamation.
A trial that kept the Australian press spellbound
It was this defamation lawsuit that kept Australians in suspense until Thursday, June 1. 40 witnesses.
Afghans. Members of the special forces. Very rare testimonials. In the end, the Australian judge concluded that the press had not done its job badly, that there is evidence of the crimes, at least in the cases mentioned above. Thousands of miles away, even the Taliban. They see in this case a proof of the “countless crimes committed by foreign forces in Afghanistan”.
For Australia, in any case, it is a turning point, already started in 2020, when a report, terrible, concluded that the special forces had illegally killed in Afghanistan 39 civilians and prisoners. In March, too, there was a first arrest, of another soldier, Oliver Schultz for murder and a war crime. So far, Ben Roberts-Smith has not been found guilty of anything criminally. He lost his fight against the press, that’s all. But according to this same press, he is of course in the crosshairs of the investigators.