SAS hero Ben Roberts-Smith has vowed to clear his name by fighting war crimes charges in his first public statement since his controversial arrest, which he described as an “unnecessary spectacle”.
The Victoria Cross recipient, 47, addressed the nation the Gold Coast on Sunday afternoon after being followed and photographed by the corporate media for almost two days since being released from a Sydney remand prison on Friday.
Roberts-Smith asked for his family to be given privacy, criticised the arrest, and stated he was proud of his service in Afghanistan, where his bravery in action made him Australia’s most decorated living soldier and a revered figure, but also the target of a witch-hunt by left-wing journalists and woke ADF bureaucrats.
“For the past 10 years my family and I have been subject to a campaign to convince Australians that I’ve acted improperly in my service in Afghanistan,” he said.
“As I’ve always maintained, I categorically deny all of these allegations, and while I would have preferred that these charges not be brought, I will be taking this opportunity to finally clear my name.
“I’m proud of my service in Afghanistan. While I was there, I always acted within my values, within my training, and within the rules of engagement. I’d also like to say that I’m extremely proud of all of the men and women that served alongside me in Afghanistan, and their service and sacrifice should never be forgotten, particularly those who made the ultimate sacrifice, many of whom were my friends.”
He went on to thank his partner Sarah Matulin, his twin teenage daughters and his parents for their “unwavering support”, and asked for media harassment of them to end, and thanked the millions of Aussies who have shown their support publicly and privately, calling it “extremely humbling”.
“I understand this is an unprecedented case and the public interest is huge, and the media has a job to do, which they should be allowed to do, but I would ask that the media please allow my family their privacy at this time, particularly my children, who have already unfortunately suffered through a deliberate sensational arrest that was made last week, an unnecessary spectacle,” he continued.
“I understand this journey will be long, I understand this journey will be difficult, but I can promise everybody that I have never run from a fight in my life, I will never give up, and I will always be in the fight, thank you.”
He did not take questions.
Roberts-Smith was arrested on April 7 after arriving in Sydney on a flight from Brisbane with his family, and charged with five counts of “war crime – murder” by the Australian Federal Police and the Office of the Special Investigator, who allege he committed or ordered subordinates to commit murders while fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2009 and 2012.
He was released on bail with strict conditions after a magistrate heard the case is likely to take years to get to a jury trial, and upon release he was photographed leaving jail, arriving at his home, and going to the gym on Saturday.
Roberts-Smith was first accused of war crimes by by journalists from corporate media giant Nine Entertainment in 2017. They were aided by Liberal MP Andrew Hastie, who gave evidence against his former SASR comrade during his defamation trial.
In 2023 he lost his lawsuit against Fairfax Media and journalists Nick McKenzie, Chris Masters and David Wroe after the Federal Court found allegations against him were “substantially true” on the balance of probabilities – a lower threshold than the “beyond reasonable doubt” required in a criminal trial. He then lost an appeal, and had an application to appeal again to the High Court rejected last year.
Earlier this year it was revealed that Nine paid $700,000 in hush money to Roberts-Smith’s mistress in a secret settlement after she threatened to sue over allegations McKenzie had broken a promise not to subpoena her to give evidence or reveal her as a source in the trial.
Roberts-Smith will return to court on June 4.
Header image: Left, right, Roberts-Smith at his press conference on Sunday (9News, 7News).
The post War hero Ben Roberts-Smith vows fight charges – slams cops for arrest spectacle first appeared on The Noticer.
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