Australian war hero appeals court decision that blamed him for unlawful killings in Afghanistan

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s most decorated living war veteran lodged an appeal on Tuesday against a civil court ruling that blamed him for the unlawful killings of four Afghans.

Ben Roberts-Smith, who retired from Australia’s elite Special Air Service Regiment a decade ago, lost a landmark defamation suit on June 1 against newspapers that had accused him of an array of war crimes.

The Federal Court confirmed that the 44-year-old recipient of the revered Victorian Cross for gallantry in Afghanistan filed an appeal with the court on Tuesday against that ruling.

Roberts-Smith had taken leave from his job as a state manager of the Seven West Media national business since 2021 to focus on the court case and quit a day after the verdict. His case has been financed by the company’s billionaire executive chair, Kerry Stokes.

Roberts-Smith has been fighting to salvage his reputation through a defamation suit since Australian newspaper articles in 2018 accused him of war crimes including culpability in six unlawful killings.

The newspapers are owned by Nine Entertainment, Seven West Media’s main rival in the Australian television industry.

A judge dismissed the defamation claims, finding the articles were substantially true. The judge also found Roberts-Smith was responsible for four of the six unlawful deaths he had been accused of.

Roberts-Smith remains under Australian police investigation for criminal prosecution over war crimes. A former SAS soldier in March became the first charged with a war crime from Australia’s 20-year campaign in Afghanistan.

Roberts-Smith’s SAS colleagues are among those calling for him to become the first Australian Victoria Cross winner to be stripped of the highest award for gallantry in battle.

His official citation commended him for “selfless valor” during an intense firefight in Kandahar province in 2010 while “showing total disregard for his own safety.”

He was also awarded the Medal for Gallantry in 2006 for his roles as a patrol scout and sniper in Afghanistan.

Roberts-Smith has agreed to pay for the legal costs of the newspapers, which some estimates say could exceed 35 million Australian dollars ($23 million), if his appeal fails.

Around 39,000 Australians served in Afghanistan and 41 were killed.