Ben Roberts-Smith arrives on the Federal Court in Sydney, on June 9, 2021. Australia’s most embellished residing battle veteran, Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith, dedicated a slew of battle crimes whereas in Afghanistan, together with the illegal killings of unarmed prisoners, a choose dominated on Thursday, June 1, 2023.

Rick Rycroft/AP

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Rick Rycroft/AP

Ben Roberts-Smith arrives on the Federal Court in Sydney, on June 9, 2021. Australia’s most embellished residing battle veteran, Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith, dedicated a slew of battle crimes whereas in Afghanistan, together with the illegal killings of unarmed prisoners, a choose dominated on Thursday, June 1, 2023.

Rick Rycroft/AP

SYDNEY — Australia’s most embellished residing battle veteran unlawfully killed prisoners and dedicated different battle crimes in Afghanistan, a choose dominated Thursday in dismissing the claims by Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith that he was defamed by media.

Federal Court choose Anthony Besanko dominated that the articles printed in 2018 have been considerably true about various battle crimes dedicated by Roberts-Smith, a former Special Air Service Regiment corporal who now’s a media firm govt.

These allegations included that Roberts-Smith, who was additionally awarded the Medal of Gallantry for his Afghan battle service, killed a prisoner who had a prosthetic leg by firing a machine gun into the person’s again in 2009.

He saved the person’s prosthetic as a novelty beer consuming vessel.

The accusations additionally included Roberts-Smith had kicked an unarmed, handcuffed farmer off a cliff right into a riverbed the place an SAS colleague shot the farmer lifeless in 2012.

Reports of home violence allegedly dedicated by Roberts-Smith have been discovered to be unproven and defamatory. But the choose discovered this might not have additional broken the veteran’s repute.

Roberts-Smith had made claims of defamation in opposition to The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Canberra Times over their articles.

His lawyer Arthur Moses requested for 42 days to think about lodging an attraction to the Full Bench of the Federal Court.

Roberts-Smith’s authorized prices have been underwritten by billionaire Kerry Stokes, govt chairman of Seven West Media the place Roberts-Smith is employed.

Roberts-Smith is certainly one of a number of Australian army personnel under investigation from Australian Federal Police for alleged battle crimes in Afghanistan.

The first legal cost for an alleged unlawful killing in Afghanistan was made in March. Former SAS trooper Oliver Schulz was charged with the battle crime of homicide within the dying of an Afghan who was shot in 2012 in a wheat discipline in Uruzgan province.