Australia’s most decorated living soldier, Ben Roberts-Smith, was arrested on Tuesday and will be charged with five counts of war crime murder relating to the killing of unarmed civilians during deployment in Afghanistan.
The 47-year-old former Australian Defence Force (ADF) member was taken into custody at Sydney Airport on Tuesday morning, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said. He will be charged with five counts of war crimes in connection with the murder of five individuals in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012. The maximum penalty for each charge is life imprisonment.
Roberts-Smith, who received some of Australia’s highest military honours including the Victoria Cross for actions during six tours of Afghanistan from 2006 to 2012, has consistently denied wrongdoing during his service. The AFP Commissioner, Krissy Barrett, said it will be alleged the victims were not taking part in hostilities when they were killed and that they were detained, unarmed and under the control of ADF members. She added some victims were allegedly shot by the accused or by subordinates acting on his orders and in his presence.
Allegations first surfaced in Nine Entertainment newspapers beginning in 2018, including claims he shot an unarmed Afghan teenager and kicked a handcuffed man off a cliff before ordering him shot. Roberts-Smith mounted a defamation challenge; in 2023 a Federal Court judge found that four of six murder allegations were proven, and the High Court dismissed a final appeal in September 2025.
A 2020 inquiry found credible evidence that members of the Special Air Service Regiment had killed dozens of unarmed prisoners in Afghanistan. The AFP and the Office of the Special Investigator (OSI), established to probe alleged war crimes by Australian forces in Afghanistan, began investigating in 2021. Ross Barnett, director of investigations at the OSI, said the probe is complicated by lack of access to Afghan crime scenes and related forensic evidence.
Authorities say 53 investigations into alleged war crimes by ADF personnel have been launched, with 10 still ongoing. Another former special forces soldier is due to face trial for war crime murder next February. Barnett said if evidence leads to further charges, those will be pursued.
Police said Roberts-Smith will appear before a local court in New South Wales later on Tuesday. His lawyer from the defamation trial did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
