Share and Follow
The Australian Federal Police have announced that a decorated former soldier is facing serious allegations. Ben Roberts-Smith is expected to be charged with five counts of war crimes, specifically murder, connected to the deaths of five Afghan nationals occurring between 2009 and 2012, according to AFP Commissioner Kristy Barrett.
In the wake of his arrest, prominent political figures have voiced their support for Roberts-Smith. Pauline Hanson, leader of One Nation, and Tony Abbott, former Liberal prime minister, both expressed their backing on social media.
Hanson stated, “I remain steadfast in my support of Ben Roberts-Smith despite news of his arrest today.”
She urged Australians to rally around Roberts-Smith and his family, emphasizing that they need public support now more than ever. “I will not abandon him like so many other politicians,” she added.
Hanson also criticized the manner of the arrest, highlighting that Roberts-Smith was detained in front of his twin 15-year-old daughters, a situation she described as disgraceful.
“He will be held in jail for seven days. He gets just one bail application. If that application fails, they can hold him for two years.
“AFP and OSI have spent $300 million over 10 years to get to this point.”
Abbott extended his “instinctive sympathy” to soldiers from the Afghanistan campaign and criticised the timeline of the criminal case against Roberts-Smith.
“As prime minister during multiple deployments, and having spent time with our troops in war-zones, I could not have asked for a more loyal and professional military and my respect for their service is undiminished,” Abbott wrote in a post to Facebook.
“If Ben Roberts-Smith transgressed, why wasn’t this picked up prior to his gallantry awards and why wasn’t any culture of brutality towards prisoners detected by his more senior officers, and dealt with quickly, rather than being allowed to fester, as has been alleged, for over a decade?”
“After doing their best to serve our country, dozens of former special forces soldiers should not still be in limbo years later because of ongoing investigations that have only resulted in charges in two cases.”
It was “wrong to judge the actions of men in mortal combat by the standards of ordinary civilian life”, Abbott noted in his post.
“Justice delayed is justice denied. If evidence is clear, and cases are strong, they should be brought and concluded without delay.
“Otherwise, people should be cleared to get on with their lives lest the process itself become the punishment.
“In Afghanistan, our soldiers fought bravely and well for a just cause. I am very sorry that some of them have been subjected to a form of persecution by the country they served.”
The controversial political figures’ defiant support comes hours after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese warned against politicising Roberts-Smith’s arrest and pending charges.
“That is a matter that it’s very important that there not be political engagement in what is a matter that is now the subject of legal proceedings,” Albanese said.
“I have no intention of prejudicing a matter that clearly is a legal matter and that’s before the courts and any comment would do so.”
NEVER MISS A STORY: Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.