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Witnesses describe moment former decorated soldier Ben Roberts-Smith was arrested
Federal investigators were filmed walking through the domestic terminal just before the former SAS soldier was arrested after leaving Brisbane.
Witnesses described the moment Roberts-Smith was taken into custody
“Our plane stopped and then we looked outside and there were two AFP cars and then we saw a man being taken into one of the cars and his family following him,” said a passenger.
“I just saw the federal police pull up and whatever his name was get in the car,” another witness said.
“It’s a bit of a shock to see the commotion.”
Roberts-Smith has always denied any allegations of wrongdoing
The Victoria Cross recipient was this afternoon charged with five war crimes: murder:
- The war crime of murder, in that he deliberately caused the death of a person, on or about April 12, 2009, in Kakarak, Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan.
- The war crime of murder, in that he assisted, encouraged, advised or incited another person to deliberately cause the death of a person, on or about April 12, 2009, in Kakarak, Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan.
- The war crime of murder, in that he assisted, encouraged, advised or incited another person to deliberately cause the death of a person, on or about September 11, 2012, in Darwan, Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan.
- The war crime of murder with another person, in the sense of deliberately causing the death of a person, on or about October 20, 2012, in Syahchow, Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan.
- The war crime of murder, in that he assisted, encouraged, advised or incited another person to deliberately cause the death of a person, on or about October 20, 2012, in Syahchow, Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan.
The maximum penalty for the crime of war crime – murder is life imprisonment if found guilty
This is the second time that the Office of the Special Investigator and AFP has filed war crimes charges against an ADF member in Australia.
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