Former Australian SAS veteran loses defamation case over media reports of execution in Afghanistan (updated)

Nine Entertainment Holdings

01/06/2023 06:37

(Adds judge's ruling, details of media reports of unlawful
killings)
    By Byron Kaye
       SYDNEY, June 1 (Reuters) - One of Australia's most
decorated living soldiers on Thursday lost a defamation lawsuit
against three newspapers which accused him of involvement in the
murder of six Afghans during deployment to Afghanistan.
        The newspapers successfully established that their
reports that former SAS corporal Ben Roberts-Smith was involved
in execution and murder in Afghanistan were true, said Federal
Court judge Anthony Besanko in Sydney.
    The case against Roberts-Smith, a Victoria Cross recipient,
has put a spotlight on the secretive wartime conduct of
Australia's elite SAS troops.
    The papers proved their allegations in relation to four of
the murders they accused Roberts-Smith of, but "in light of my
conclusions, each (defamation) proceeding must be dismissed,"
Besanko said in a summary of his findings.
    Publication of his full reasons was delayed until Monday due
to national security concerns.
    Former special forces corporal Roberts-Smith, 44, had sued
the Sydney Morning Herald, the Age and the Canberra Times for
portraying him as someone who "broke the moral and legal rules
of military engagement" in Afghanistan where he served from 2006
to 2012.
    Roberts-Smith won several top Australian military honours,
including the Victoria Cross, for his actions during six tours
of Afghanistan before carving out a post-military career as an
in-demand public speaker and media executive.
    But articles by the newpapers from 2018 suggested he went
beyond the bounds of acceptable military engagement. 
    The articles, citing other soldiers who said they were
there, said Roberts-Smith had shot dead an unarmed Afghan
teenage spotter, and kicked a handcuffed man off a cliff before
ordering him to be shot dead.
    Roberts-Smith's lawsuit called the media reports false and
based on the claims of failed soldiers who were jealous of his
accolades, and sought unspecified damages.
    The newspapers sought to defend their reports by proving the
claims were true, and presented other soldiers and former
soldiers as witnesses in court who corroborated them.
    The judgement comes at a time of heightened sensitivity
around Australia's military after a 2020 report said there was
credible evidence members of the special forces killed dozens of
unarmed prisoners in Afghanistan. 
    No soldiers were named in the redacted report but about two
dozen current and former Australian soldiers were referred for
potential criminal prosecution.
    Judge Besanko said he would give reasons for his decision on
Monday after the federal government applied to delay the
proceedings to give government lawyers time to check for
national security information being inadvertentely divulged.
        
  

 (Reporting by Byron Kaye
Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Michael Perry)
 ((byron.kaye@thomsonreuters.com; +612 9171 7541; @byronkaye;))