Australian soldier loses court battle over Afghanistan war crimes

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – A court in Australia on Thursday dismissed a case against media organizations filed by a decorated soldier over alleged war crimes committed in Afghanistan.

The defamation case was dismissed after a judge “found defenses of substantial or contextual truth had been established over alleged unlawful killings” committed in Afghanistan, besides in cases of bullying and domestic violence, Australian broadcaster ABC reported.

War veteran Ben Roberts-Smith had filed the case against Australian newspapers The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Canberra Times and three journalists.

However, Justice Anthony Besanko ruled Thursday: “The publisher had established the substantial truth of the imputations linked to allegations of unlawful killings in Afghanistan, and had established the contextual truth of imputations linked to allegations of bullying and domestic violence.”

A series of stories was published in 2018 and the case was filed in Federal Court by Victoria Cross recipient Roberts-Smith.

He had rejected the stories which included “allegations of war crimes in Afghanistan, bullying of his former Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) colleagues and domestic violence against a woman in a Canberra hotel room.”

The media stories suggested the veteran soldier committed the war crimes in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012.

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