Ben Roberts-Smith, Australia's most decorated living soldier, has publicly declared his innocence and pledged to fight five war crime charges of murder stemming from his service in Afghanistan.
In his first statement since being arrested last week, the 47-year-old Victoria Cross recipient told media he was "proud of my service in Afghanistan" and would use the legal proceedings to "finally clear my name."
"I understand this journey will be difficult," Roberts-Smith said. "But I can promise everybody that I have never run from a fight in my life."
The former Special Air Service (SAS) corporal is accused of involvement in the deaths of unarmed Afghan detainees between 2009 and 2012, either through direct killing or by ordering subordinates to carry out executions.
Roberts-Smith described his arrest at Sydney airport on April 7 as a "sensational" and "unnecessary spectacle," refusing to answer journalists' questions after his brief statement. He was released on bail Friday after a judge noted his case was "exceptional" and could involve "possibly years and years" of pretrial detention if bail were denied.
The criminal charges follow a landmark 2023 civil defamation case where a Federal Court judge found—on the balance of probabilities—that there was "substantial truth" to some murder allegations against Roberts-Smith. That case, brought by Roberts-Smith against Nine newspapers after they first published misconduct allegations in 2018, marked the first judicial examination of war crime claims against Australian forces.
Roberts-Smith now faces one count of the war crime of murder, one count of jointly commissioning a murder, and three counts of aiding, abetting, counseling or procuring murder. He lost an appeal against the Federal Court's findings last year.