Ben Roberts-Smith makes statement following ‘sensationalist’ arrest | ABC NEWS
War veteran Ben Roberts-Smith has publicly denied all allegations against him, vowing to use a criminal trial to clear his name.
The 47-year-old read a prepared statement to media on the Gold Coast on Sunday, categorically rejecting the charges of war crime of murder and describing his arrest at Sydney Airport earlier this month as a “sensationalist” and “unnecessary spectacle”.
Mr Roberts-Smith was released from Sydney’s Silverwater Correctional jail on Friday before travelling back to Queensland.
Australia’s most decorated soldier was charged earlier this month with five counts of the war crime of murder, alleged to have taken place in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012.
He has not yet entered a plea.
Mr Roberts-Smith previously denied the allegations throughout a lengthy defamation case against Nine newspapers, a case which he ultimately lost.
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