A former SAS soldier accused of killing an Afghan civilian during a mission in southern Afghanistan more than a decade ago has been arrested and charged with the war crime of murder.
Oliver Schulz, 41, was arrested in the southern highlands of New South Wales by Australian federal police and NSW police. He has been remanded in custody and is expected to appear at Sydney’s Downing Centre local court in May.
In a statement, the Australian federal police said: “It will be alleged he murdered an Afghan man while deployed to Afghanistan with the Australian defence force.
“The maximum penalty for a war crime – murder offence is life imprisonment.”
Footage broadcast by the ABC’s Four Corners program shows an Australian trooper, allegedly Schulz, shooting dead a prone Afghan man, who is lying with his hands up, in a wheat field in southern Afghanistan’s Uruzgan province.
Schulz was a trooper with the SAS’s 3 Squadron, serving in Rotation XVII, in 2012.
Schulz’s arrest is the first war crime charge of murder to be laid against a serving or former Australian Defence Force member under Australian law.
Schulz’s arrest follows a four-year investigation by the inspector general of the Australian defence force, Maj Gen Paul Brereton, which found “credible” evidence to support allegations that 39 Afghan civilians were unlawfully killed by Australian special forces soldiers.
The Office of the Special Investigator was especially established by government to investigate the Brereton report’s findings for criminal investigation.
The AFP said: “The Office of the Special Investigator and the AFP are working together to investigate allegations of criminal offences under Australian law related to breaches of the laws of armed conflict by Australian defence force personnel in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016.”
Last month, before parliament, the head of the OSI said the agency was investigating “between 40 and 50” alleged offences by Australian special forces soldiers in the Afghan conflict.
Martin Hamilton-Smith, former SAS officer and the national chairman of the SAS Association, said the organisation “welcomed the fact that this will now go to court”.
“We take the accusations very seriously and commend those who referred them, because they are members of our association as well,” he told The Guardian.
“But we make the point that the defendant has the right to the presumption of innocence, and to have these allegations tested before a properly constituted court, so that the truth can be established.”
Fiona Nelson, director of legal advocacy at the Australian Centre for International Justice, said the progression of investigations to an arrest being made was a significant step for public accountability.
“Victims of human rights violations across the conflict in Afghanistan have for decades been denied avenues for any accountability. Criminal proceedings in Australia have an important role to play in finally allowing for impunity to be challenged.
“Australia has a lot of work ahead to respond to the legacy of its military engagement in Afghanistan.”
