In an extraordinary judgment, the federal court has found that Australia’s most decorated war hero, Ben Roberts-Smith, murdered unarmed civilians while serving in Afghanistan, and that reporting painting him as a bully was substantially proven.
The decision was the result of a landmark defamation case that Roberts-Smith brought against reporting by three newspapers – the Sydney Morning Herald, the Age and the Canberra Times – from 2018 that he claimed falsely portrayed him as a criminal who broke the legal rules of military engagement.
