Australia's most decorated veteran walks free on bail on war crimes charges related to Afghan deaths

Fox News - World Legal & JudicialNews ReportEN 4 min read 100% complete April 17, 2026 at 02:04 PM

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Australia's most decorated veteran walks free on bail on war crimes charges related to Afghan deaths

AI Summary

long article 4 min

Ben Roberts-Smith, Australia's most decorated living veteran, was granted bail and released from a Sydney prison on Friday, 10 days after being charged with war crimes. The former Special Air Service Regiment corporal faces five counts of war crime murder related to the deaths of five Afghans in Uruzgan province in 2009 and 2012. Prosecutors opposed bail, citing concerns about Roberts-Smith potentially fleeing or interfering with witnesses. Roberts-Smith was arrested on April 7 following a military report in 2020 that found evidence of unlawful killings by Australian special forces in Afghanistan. He is only the second Australian veteran of the Afghanistan campaign to be charged with a war crime.

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Legal & Judicial

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Human Rights

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Key Claims (5)

AI-Extracted

Similar allegations against Roberts-Smith were found credible in a civil court case in 2023.

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A military report released in 2020 found evidence elite SAS and commando regiment troops unlawfully killed 39 Afghans.

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Roberts-Smith was arrested on April 7 and charged with five counts of war crime murder.

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Judge Greg Grogin granted Roberts-Smith bail in a Sydney court.

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Ben Roberts-Smith, was charged with war crimes in the killings of five people while serving in Afghanistan.

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Claims are automatically extracted and should be independently verified. Attribution indicates the stated source of the claim.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

Greg Grogin 30% Uruzgan province 40% Special Air Service Regiment ×250% Sydney ×460% Afghanistan ×470% Australia ×580% Ben Roberts-Smith ×890%

Keywords

war crimes 100% ben roberts-smith 90% afghanistan 80% bail 70% murder 60% special air service regiment 50% australian military 50% uruzgan province 40%