Australia’s most celebrated soldier under investigation over “appalling” allegations
Australia’s most decorated former soldier Ben Roberts-Smith is under investigation by the Australian Federal Police for a potential war crime against an Afghan farmer.
Roberts-Smith, a Victoria Cross and Medal of Gallantry recipient, has been accused of kicking handcuffed farmer and father Ali Jan off a cliff in the Afghan village of Darwan in September 2012, according to a report by The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and 60 Minutes.
Sources from the Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) said Roberts-Smith was also present when the decision was made for another soldier to shoot dead the injured detainee.
Two weeks before the farmer’s death, Afghan army sergeant Hekmatullah killed three Australian soldiers in a shooting.
The SAS was searching for Hekmatullah in the Oruzgan province when the unit took fifty men, including Ali Jan, into custody for questioning.
Reporter Nick McKenzie said a witness saw Ali Jan being taken from the compound before being placed on his knees near the edge of a cliff and getting kicked “like a scene from the movie 300”.
Under international law, detainees must be treated humanely and protected from violence.
The AFP confirmed that it sent police detectives to Afghanistan earlier this year to collect eyewitness testimony on the role of Australia special forces soldiers in the alleged assault and murder.
Ali Jan’s death is also being investigated by the Inspector-General of the Defence Force in a separate inquiry.
Ali Jan’s wife Bibi Dhorko said the farmer was not involved in any violent crimes, and visited Darwan simply to obtain flour for his family.
“He didn’t side with anyone and never had a gun. He was living in the mountain and doing his work, only going occasionally to the village if we needed any supplies,” she said.
“He was not Taliban. There was no gun. He knew nothing about guns. He hated the Taliban.
“I want justice because I have been widowed ... my children are now helpless.”
Roberts-Smith said he was “appalled” by the claims made against him and his colleagues in the program and launched a defamation proceeding against Nine as the publisher of the report.
“I categorically deny the allegations made against me in tonight’s 60 Minutes program,” he said in a statement.
“I am concerned that tonight’s story and the previous publications by the SMH/Age are an attempt to improperly influence the outcome of the [Inspector-General of the Defence Force] inquiry.”
He said he believed the sources quoted on the program had not witnessed the incident in person. “None of the witnesses on tonight’s broadcast provided any direct evidence of any sort to support their allegations,” he said.