War Crime Charges Against Australia's Veteran

0:00It's April 7th. This is Calgary News Today, powered by AI. Australia's most decorated living veteran, Ben Robert Smith, just got hit with five war crime murder charges for allegedly killing unarmed Afghans. During tours in 2009 and 2012, the 47-year-old former S.A.S. corporal who earned the Victoria Cross and Medal of Galantry faces life in prison if convicted. He's nabbed him at Sinney Airport Tuesday after a flight from Brisbane. He's staying in custody overnight and heads to court Wednesday where he might push for bail. Officials say the victims were detained, unarmed, and under Australian control when killed, either by him or on his orders. This bill's on a civil defamation case. Robert Smith lost in 2023 where a judge ruled on the balance of probabilities that he likely took out four non-combatants. Australia's top court shut down his appeal last year and now criminal charges demand proof beyond reasonable doubt.

1:01A 2020 military probe uncovered unlawful killings by elite S.A.S. troops, including 39 Afghan non-combatants. Investigators looked into 53 cases, wrapping 39 without charges, and Robert Smith is just the second Afghanistan vet facing. These, after another soldier pleaded not guilty to a similar murder, reporters who broke the story expect S.A.S. mates to testify again, shining a light on Australia's toughest unit. The case unfolds as thousands of vets reflect on two decades in Afghanistan where 41 Aussies lost their lives.