Ben Roberts-Smith Arrested Over Alleged War Crimes

Ben Roberts-Smith, a Victoria Cross recipient and described as Australia’s most decorated living soldier, was arrested on April 7, 2026, and charged with five counts of the war crime of murder. The charges relate to his service as a member of the Australian Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012.

The 47-year-old former special forces soldier was apprehended by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) at the domestic terminal of Sydney Airport following a flight from Brisbane. Following his arrest, he was transferred to a police cell and subsequently taken to the Silverwater Prison Complex in western Sydney.

Details of Criminal Charges

The charges are the result of a five-year investigation conducted by the AFP and the Office of the Special Investigator. According to AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett, the allegations involve three separate incidents in which Afghan nationals were shot dead, either by Roberts-Smith himself or by a subordinate under his control while he was present.

The five criminal counts are broken down as follows:

• One charge of the war crime of murder.
• One charge of jointly commissioning a murder.
• Three charges of aiding, abetting, counselling, or procuring a murder.

Under Australian law, these war crime charges carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

Legal Proceedings and Custody Status

On April 8, 2026, Roberts-Smith appeared in the Bail Division Court. His legal representatives did not immediately apply for bail, and he remains in custody at the Silverwater Prison Complex.

Roberts-Smith has denied all allegations of wrongdoing. He has previously described the claims against him as egregious and spiteful.

Background and Civil Findings

The criminal proceedings follow a high-profile defamation trial initiated by Roberts-Smith against Nine Newspapers. In 2023, the court found that, on the balance of probabilities, allegations that Roberts-Smith was responsible for, or complicit in, the deaths of four detainees in Afghanistan were substantially true.

That ruling was delivered by Justice Anthony Besanko. Because the defamation case was a civil matter, it operated under a lower burden of proof than the criminal standard of beyond reasonable doubt. Roberts-Smith’s legal team argued during those proceedings that the killings in question either did not occur or were legal actions taken during combat.

The findings of the 2023 trial were upheld in May 2025, when the Full Court of the Federal Court dismissed Roberts-Smith’s appeal. In September 2025, the High Court of Australia refused to hear his case, exhausting his options for challenging the civil findings.

Despite the civil court’s findings, there had been no findings of guilt against Roberts-Smith to a criminal standard until the current arrests and charges on April 7, 2026.