A second serving member of the SAS has told a court he saw an Australian soldier shoot an unarmed disabled man during a 2009 raid in Afghanistan.
The soldier, anonymised before the court as Person 14, said he saw an Australian soldier, wearing distinctive camouflage facepaint worn by the Roberts-Smith’s five-man patrol, throw an Afghan man to the ground.
“Then a soldier raised their Minimi F89 Para [machine gun] and fired an extended burst,” Person 14 said.
“It was loud, like a ‘BRRRRRT’ for one second.”
Later in the raid, Person 14 told the court he saw Roberts-Smith carrying a Minimi machine gun, a distinctive weapon carried by few Australian soldiers on the raid. Most of the soldiers carried M4 rifles.
“Later, I saw who had the Para Minimi [machine gun],” he said. “It was Ben Roberts-Smith.”
The evidence of the anonymised soldier follows testimony from another soldier, Person 41, who said he saw Roberts-Smith “frog-march” a man outside a village compound, throw him to the ground and machine-gun him to death.
The court has previously heard that the man had a prosthetic leg, which was later souvenired by another soldier and used as a drinking vessel at the Australian soldiers’ unofficial bar on base, the Fat Ladies’ Arms.
The slain man was allegedly found hiding inside a tunnel inside the compound, but he was captive and unarmed at the time he was shot, the testimony before court has said.
Roberts-Smith 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. The newspapers are pleading a defence of truth. Roberts Smith denies any wrongdoing.
Before giving his evidence, Person 14 sought, and was granted by the judge, a certificate under section 128 of the Evidence Act, providing him immunity against prosecution based on self-incrimination.
Person 14 was part of a raid by Australian soldiers on a compound – given the codename Whiskey 108 – on 12 April 2009, in the village of Kakarak in Uruzgan province.
Person 14 said when other Australian troops became engaged in a firefight in the valley around Kakarak, the SAS soldiers provided “overwatch” and “battlefield commentary” to assist.
Engaged in the battle all day, in the late afternoon, the decision was taken for the SAS troops to infiltrate Kakarak and “clear” two compounds of particular interest – known as Whiskey 108 and Whiskey 109 – checking for insurgents, weapons, and bomb-making materials.
Person 14 gave evidence of leading his six-man patrol into Kakarak village in fading light, across watercourses, through poppy fields, and down narrow alleyways between buildings, before reaching the compounds.
Person 14 “engaged” and killed a fighting aged male upon approach to the compounds and then set up an overwatch post while the assault patrols entered the compounds.
Person 14 said the light was fading when he heard heavy footsteps to his right.
“As I turned my head to my right, there were three Australian soldiers and a black object, which was similar to a human, that was thrown to the ground.”
Person 14 said the person made a thudding, “expulsion of air” noise as they hit the ground.
“Then a soldier raised their Minimi F89 Para and fired an extended burst. It was loud, like a ‘BRRRRRT’ for one second.”
“That person turned and walked away out of sight back into Whiskey 108.”
Person 14 said he turned to his patrol’s second-in-command and said “what the hell what that?” He said he did not recognise the soldier who fired at the time.
But Person 14 said the soldier who shot the man was wearing a distinctive new camouflage paint, worn only by one SAS patrol in action that day, the five-man team of which Roberts-Smith was a member.
Person 14 later checked the body of the slain man – he had gunshot wounds to the centre of his torso and blood coming from his mouth and nose. Person 14 saw that the man had a prosthetic leg.
Later in the day, Person 14 told the court he saw Roberts-Smith carrying the distinctive Minimi weapon at the troops’ lay-up point.
“I saw who had the Para Minimi [machine gun],” he said. “It was Ben Roberts-Smith.”
The events at Whiskey 108 on 12 April 2009 have emerged as central to the allegations made against Roberts-Smith, a Victoria Cross winner, and one of Australia’s most decorated soldiers.
Earlier this week, another still-serving soldier in the SAS, Person 41, gave evidence he saw Roberts-Smith order another subordinate soldier to execute an elderly man also found in the same tunnel as the disabled man.
He gave evidence he later saw Roberts-Smith kill the man with the prosthetic leg outside the compound.
Roberts-Smith, in his evidence to the court last year, said “there were no people in the tunnel at Whiskey 108”.
He said he never gave an order to execute anybody, and that killing never happened.
Roberts-Smith says he killed the man with the prosthetic leg, but that the man was an insurgent, running outside the compound, and carrying a weapon.
Roberts-Smith insists the man was a legitimate target, a threat to soldiers’ safety, and was killed within the laws of war.
The trial, before Justice Anthony Besanko, continues.
