Posted on 04/08/2026 4:56:44 PM PDT by naturalman1975
Australia’s most decorated soldier Ben Roberts-Smith faces five war crimes murder charges, but a retired army Colonel and ADF legal expert claims prosecutors will struggle to secure a conviction.
Prosecutors squaring up against the nation’s most decorated soldier will struggle to get a successful war crimes conviction regardless of the quality of the evidence, according to a retired colonel of the Australian Army Legal Corps.
Bruce Levet, who served the Australian Army Legal Corps until 2022, told The Daily Telegraph he did not believe Victoria Cross recipient and former Special Air Service corporal Ben Roberts-Smith would be convicted of five counts of war crime murder by civilian prosecutors.
Without commenting on the strength of the evidence to be put before the courts, Mr Levet said there were inherent barriers to securing convictions against military personnel in civilian courts.
.....
But Mr Levet, now a private barrister, also said the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) may have a dilemma over the use of Afghan witnesses.
“They won’t be coming here for it and will present their evidence over audiovisual link,” he said.
Mr Levet, who holds a master’s degree in law of armed conflict and completed the joint operations law training run by the Australian Defence Force (ADF), also raised concerns over whether “Taliban representatives” were with the witnesses when they were previously questioned by Australian officials.
He also declared that the presentation of “high-security classifications of operations” to a civilian jury may cause problems for the CDPP.
“I wouldn’t like to be on the prosecution side of this case,” he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at heraldsun.com.au ...
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Yeah the Afghanis will tell the truth. What a complete travesty.
backstory from the FRchives:
I don’t think Australia has changed anywhere near as much as some Americans seem to have been told it has changed.
I think you’re right. Many here in the U.S. are under the mistaken belief that Australians had to hand in all of their guns.
I don’t think Australia has changed anywhere near as much as some Americans seem to have been told it has changed.
I want to be fairly careful for a number of reasons. But to me, what is happening with BRS looks like the efforts of a particular media organisation, which have gained some credence with a particular small, but powerful, section of the Australian justice system. I don’t regard it as indicative of Australia as a whole.
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