Australia veteran granted bail in war crimes case

April 18, 2026

Summary

Ben Roberts-Smith was released on bail in Sydney after being charged with war crime murder over five deaths in Afghanistan.

Why this matters

The case is a rare criminal prosecution of an Australian veteran over alleged war crimes in Afghanistan. It also tests how domestic courts handle allegations stemming from Australia’s two-decade military role in the conflict.

Ben Roberts-Smith, Australia’s most decorated living veteran, was released on bail from a Sydney prison Friday, 10 days after he was charged with war crime murder over the deaths of five Afghans in Afghanistan.

Judge Greg Grogin granted bail in Sydney after finding the former Special Air Service Regiment corporal had shown exceptional circumstances warranting release. Prosecutors opposed bail, arguing Roberts-Smith, 47, could flee Australia or interfere with witnesses and evidence.

Roberts-Smith was arrested April 7 and charged with five counts of war crime murder tied to killings in Uruzgan province in 2009 and 2012. Under Australian law, war crime murder is the intentional killing during armed conflict of a person not taking an active part in hostilities, such as a civilian, prisoner of war, or wounded soldier.

He was driven from Sydney’s Silverwater Correctional Complex late Friday, apparently wearing the same clothes he wore when police removed him from a commercial airliner at Sydney Airport last week, according to media images.

Roberts-Smith received the Victoria Cross and the Medal for Gallantry for his service in Afghanistan. He is the second Australian veteran of that war to be charged with a war crime.

The charges followed a 2020 military report that found evidence that elite Special Air Service Regiment and commando troops unlawfully killed 39 Afghan prisoners, farmers, and other noncombatants.

In a 2023 civil case, a judge found similar allegations against Roberts-Smith were substantially true when rejecting his defamation claims against newspapers. At that trial, Roberts-Smith said he had never killed an unarmed Afghan and denied committing a war crime, saying he was the victim of false claims by fellow soldiers and of others’ envy of his medals.

The civil ruling applied the lower standard of proof of balance of probabilities. The criminal case will require proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

Prosecutors said Roberts-Smith was accused of personally shooting two victims and ordering subordinates to shoot three others. Prosecutor Simon Buchen called the allegations “among the most serious known to the criminal law” and said Roberts-Smith had been “on the cusp of relocating overseas” without informing authorities.

Roberts-Smith has not entered pleas. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison on each conviction.

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Australia veteran granted bail in war crimes case

The charges followed a 2020 military report that found evidence that elite Special Air Service Regiment and commando troops unlawfully killed 39 Afghan prisoners, farmers, and other noncombatants.

Full story +

Ben Roberts-Smith, Australia’s most decorated living veteran, was released on bail from a Sydney prison Friday, 10 days after he was charged with war crime murder over the deaths of five Afghans in Afghanistan.

Judge Greg Grogin granted bail in Sydney after finding the former Special Air Service Regiment corporal had shown exceptional circumstances warranting release. Prosecutors opposed bail, arguing Roberts-Smith, 47, could flee Australia or interfere with witnesses and evidence.

Roberts-Smith was arrested April 7 and charged with five counts of war crime murder tied to killings in Uruzgan province in 2009 and 2012. Under Australian law, war crime murder is the intentional killing during armed conflict of a person not taking an active part in hostilities, such as a civilian, prisoner of war, or wounded soldier.

He was driven from Sydney’s Silverwater Correctional Complex late Friday, apparently wearing the same clothes he wore when police removed him from a commercial airliner at Sydney Airport last week, according to media images.

Roberts-Smith received the Victoria Cross and the Medal for Gallantry for his service in Afghanistan. He is the second Australian veteran of that war to be charged with a war crime.

The charges followed a 2020 military report that found evidence that elite Special Air Service Regiment and commando troops unlawfully killed 39 Afghan prisoners, farmers, and other noncombatants.

In a 2023 civil case, a judge found similar allegations against Roberts-Smith were substantially true when rejecting his defamation claims against newspapers. At that trial, Roberts-Smith said he had never killed an unarmed Afghan and denied committing a war crime, saying he was the victim of false claims by fellow soldiers and of others’ envy of his medals.

The civil ruling applied the lower standard of proof of balance of probabilities. The criminal case will require proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

Prosecutors said Roberts-Smith was accused of personally shooting two victims and ordering subordinates to shoot three others. Prosecutor Simon Buchen called the allegations “among the most serious known to the criminal law” and said Roberts-Smith had been “on the cusp of relocating overseas” without informing authorities.

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