Image: Ben Roberts-Smith. Image: AAP Image/Dean Lewins
By TILEAH DOBSON
The judgement in the defamation trial against media outlets brought forth by Ben Roberts-Smith VC occurred this afternoon, with the proceedings being dismissed.
In a major win for newspapers, Justice Anthony Besanko has dismissed defamation claims by Ben Roberts-Smith against three newspapers, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Age and the Canberra Times and investigative journalists Chris Masters and Nick McKenzie.
The case’s dismissal was declared by the justice on the basis that the defence was able to prove the truth of most of the accusations against Robert-Smith. This includes the more serious allegations of war crimes he allegedly committed during the raids on the Whiskey 108 compound and the village of Darwan.
The Allegations
The allegations that the justice found were to be of substantial truth argued by the defence were:
That Roberts-Smith broke the moral and legal rules of military engagement and is therefore a criminal, that he murdered an unarmed, Afghan civilian, Ali Jan by kicking him off a cliff and procuring soldiers under his command to shoot him, and he committed murder by pressuring an inexperienced SAS trooper to execute an unarmed, elderly Afghan man in order to “blood the rookie.”
The written judgement won’t be released today as the justice has ordered that the Commonwealth be given time to make redactions before it is released to the public.
A Win For Press Freedom
The judgement has been hailed by many journalists and media outlets as a win for press freedom in Australia, a sentiment that media section leader of the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, Karen Percy agrees with.
“The ruling just now by Justice Anthony Bresanko in the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case is a big and important win for journalism and press freedom in Australia,” she tweeted.
The ruling just now by Justice Anthony Bresanko in the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case is a big and important win for journalism and press freedom in Australia. It upholds the media’s important role in undertaking public interest investigations & in the public’s right to know.
— Karen Percy (@PercyKaren) June 1, 2023
“It upholds the media’s important role in undertaking public interest investigations & in the public’s right to know.”
McKenzie and Masters spoke outside of court, expressing their relief as today was a “day of justice,” and expressing their gratitudes to the newspapers who published their stories and supported them during the entire proceedings.
Greens Senator David Shoebridge took to Twitter to call on the Australian War Memorial to “immediately remove Ben Roberts-Smith’s uniform from public display and to begin telling the entire truth of Australia’s involvement in that brutal war,” if the judgement stands.
If this judgment stands, the first step in correcting the official record is for the Australian War Memorial to immediately remove Ben Roberts Smith’s uniform from public display and to begin telling the entire truth of Australia’s involvement in that brutal war.
— David Shoebridge (@DavidShoebridge) June 1, 2023
