Riyaz ul Khaliq
17 April 2026•Update: 17 April 2026
A court in Sydney granted bail Friday to Australia’s most-decorated soldier, who is accused of committing war crimes in Afghanistan.
Ben Roberts-Smith was arrested on April 7 at Sydney Airport and charged with five counts of murder in Uruzgan province between 2009 and 2012, according to ABC News.
The lawyers for the 47-year-old former soldier told the court that “the case was unprecedented and involved uncharted legal territory.”
It was likely to take years, with “many twists and turns,” they argued.
Judge Greg Grogin granted bail, saying “the concerns raised by prosecutors could be mitigated through strict conditions proposed by his lawyers.”
The arrest of Roberts-Smith came after he lost a defamation case he had filed against Nine newspapers over the war crimes allegations.
If convicted, the maximum penalty for the war crime of murder is life imprisonment.
According to Australian police, 14 of a total 53 investigations into alleged war crimes by Australian Defense Force members in Afghanistan remain active.
While probes are ongoing in 10 of the investigations, four remain on hold.
One of the investigations has led to a former Special Forces soldier being charged with war crime murder, with the trial set for February 2027.
