Hero or war crook? Australian court will determine the fate of the recipient of the very best award

In Australia, a verdict is due within the close to destiny in a libel case filed by way of Afghan battle hero Ben Roberts-Smith towards 3 guides that committed a journalistic research to him. However, inside the course of the hearings, the veteran himself, in fact, turned out to be within the dock.

The retired soldier, now 44, finished his carrier in Afghanistan in 2012. He received numerous awards, consisting of the Victoria Cross for incredible valor in battle. In hand-to-hand fight, he single-handedly destroyed a Taliban gadget-gun group that pressured his commando platoon to lay low.

He again to Australia as a national hero. In 2013, he changed into elected father of the 12 months, he received substantial charges for public speaking, his portrait appeared within the army museum, in keeping with the BBC.

The idyll turned into broken in 2018 when three publications posted the consequences of the investigation, in keeping with which Roberts-Smith changed into no longer a knight without fear and reproach. Publications claimed he had killed at least six unarmed militants and civilians, all after the combating changed into over.

So, he threw a peasant who did no longer pose any risk from a ten-meter cliff, and then finished him off with a shot. He mocked recruits, and also mounted a ritual in line with which every of them had to kill a prisoner in an effort to prove belonging to the unit.

Having shot the captured militant with a device gun, he took his prosthetic leg as a trophy, turning it into a feast cup. None of these struggle crimes were committed in combat or the fog of conflict, the media’s lawyers confused.

Roberts-Smith went to courtroom, but the defendants have been nicely organized for the manner. All statements had been confirmed by way of witnesses: Afghan peasants, colleagues. His ex-wife said that a pregnant mistress beaten by way of him came to her house to whinge.

The trial lasted a hundred and ten days and value A$25 million – greater than US$16 million. The verdict is expected inside per week. The most essential question: what takes place if the court docket rejects the veteran’s claim, will the crook prosecution await him?