Ben Roberts-Smith: the explosive allegations of war crimes at the heart of defamation case
The Victoria Cross recipient claims a series of news stories defamed him but the newspapers defended their reporting as true. As a verdict looms, we look at the key details of the case
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In 2018, after the Age, the Sydney Morning Herald and the Canberra Times published a series of stories alleging Ben Roberts-Smith committed murder and other crimes, he sued the three newspapers for defamation.
Roberts-Smith alleges the stories falsely portrayed him as a criminal who “broke the moral and legal rules of military engagement” and “disgraced” his country and its army. He has alleged the newspapers made 14 defamatory imputations against him, including that he “murdered an unarmed and defenceless Afghan civilian, by kicking him off a cliff and procuring the soldiers under his command to shoot him” and “committed murder by machine gunning a man with a prosthetic leg”.
Law (Australia) | The Guardian
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