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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Ben Doherty

Ben Roberts-Smith to call ex-SAS member alleged to have committed war crime as his first reply witness in defamation trial

Ben Roberts-Smith RS SAS
Ben Roberts-Smith outside the federal court in Sydney. Roberts-Smith is calling a former SAS colleague as a witness-in-reply in his defamation trial against three newspapers.
Ben Roberts-Smith outside the federal court in Sydney. Roberts-Smith is calling a former SAS colleague as a witness-in-reply in his defamation trial against three newspapers. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

A former Australian SAS soldier alleged by three newspapers to have ordered the execution of an unarmed elderly man in Afghanistan will be the first witness-in-reply called by Ben Roberts-Smith in his war crimes defamation trial.

Roberts-Smith, a recipient of the Victoria Cross, is suing the Age, the Sydney Morning Herald and the Canberra Times for defamation over a series of ­reports he alleges are defamatory and portray him as committing war crimes, including murder.

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