Source : Perth Now news
Ben Roberts-Smith will have to wait several months before finding out the full allegations that have been made against him.
Australia’s most decorated living soldier and the Victoria Cross recipient has been charged with five counts of war crime murder relating to his deployment in Afghanistan.
Mr Roberts-Smith was released on bail in April after spending more than a week in custody on remand at Silverwater prison.
The court was told on Tuesday that the brief of evidence could not be served on Mr Roberts-Smith’s legal team until an order was made by the court under the National Security Information Act.
A brief of evidence is all the material that the prosecution intends to use against an accused person.
In Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court, Judge Susan Horan set the matter down for a two-hour hearing on September 1.
The court was told that both the Crown and defence consented to the order, and it would be up to the judge to form a view that it was necessary.
Mr Roberts-Smith was not present in court on Tuesday and was represented by his West Australian-based solicitor Karen Espiner, who appeared via audio visual link.
It was the first time his matter had been mentioned in court since he was released on bail by Judge Greg Grogin.
In his first public statement after he was charged, Mr Roberts-Smith in April said he intended to clear his name.
“For the past 10 years, my family and I have been subject to a campaign to convince Australians that I’ve acted improperly in my service in Afghanistan,” he said.
“As I’ve always maintained, I categorically deny all of these allegations. And while I would’ve preferred these charges not be brought, I will be taking the opportunity to finally clear my name.”
Mr Roberts-Smith was arrested by the Australian Federal Police in April as he prepared to step off a flight from Brisbane and charged with five counts of war crime murder.
It’s alleged he took part in the killings of five unarmed men while the former SAS soldier was deployed in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012.
He has yet to enter pleas to any of the charges.
He has long maintained his innocence in relation to the allegations, which were the subject of his unsuccessful Federal Court defamation suit against Nine Newspapers.
Mr Roberts-Smith has persistently denied any wrongdoing and the Federal Court findings against him were made to the civil standard of the balance of probabilities, which is below the criminal standard of beyond a reasonable doubt.
The first two charges relate to the alleged killing of two men at a compound known as Whiskey 108 at Kakarak on April 12, 2009.
Mr Roberts-Smith is alleged to have ordered another officer to kill one man and to have shot another man, who had a prosthetic leg, in the head.
He is also alleged to have taken part in the murder of Ali Jan in Darwan in September 2012 when he allegedly kicked the handcuffed man down a cliff and ordered another soldier to shoot the shepherd in a cornfield.
The final two charges relate to the alleged killing of two “persons under control” at Syahchow in October 2012 when Mr Roberts-Smith is alleged to have ordered another soldier to execute one of the prisoners.
He is also alleged to have jointly murdered the other “person under control”.
