Aussie Vet Charged with War Crimes

0:00On April 7, Australia's most decorated living veteran, Ben Robert Smith, just got hit with five war crime murder charges. Police say the 47-year-old former SAS Corporal killed five unarmed Afghans during tours in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012. He's the second Aussie vet from that war facing these kinds of accusations. He got arrested Tuesday at Sydney Airport right after flying in from Brisbane. In Federal Police Commissioner, Chrissy Barrett laid it out clear. The victims were detained, not fighting back, and either shot by him or on. His orders, Robert Smith stays in custody overnight and hits court Wednesday where he might push for bail. Robert Smith earned the Victoria Cross and Medal of Galantry for bravery, making this fall from grace hit hard. A civil defamation case back in 2023 already backed similar claims on the balance of probabilities. He lost that fight, and the high court shut down his appeal, now its criminal court needing

1:02proof beyond reasonable doubt. This stems from a 2020 military probe uncovering unlawful killings by elite SAS troops, including 39 civilians and prisoners. Investigators cleared most cases, but zeroed in here. Barrett stressed, it's just a tiny crew involved, not the tens of thousands of honorable ADF folks who served in Afghanistan. As witnesses from his SAS days gear up to testify again, these charges could rewrite his legacy and spark more reckoning over war conduct. Eyes stay glued to that courtroom drama unfolding down under. That wraps global news today, brought to you with AI.