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Australia's most decorated living soldier will be charged with five counts of war crime murders relating to the killing of unarmed civilians while on deployment in Afghanistan.

The man, whom police identified as a 47-year-old former Australian Defence Force (ADF) member and media named as Ben Roberts-Smith, was arrested at Sydney Airport on Tuesday (April 7) morning.

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Transcript
00:04Good afternoon. A former Australian Defence Force member has today been arrested and will be charged
00:10with five counts of war crime murder after a joint investigation between the Office of the Special
00:16Investigator and the AFP. The former soldier was arrested at Sydney's domestic airport this morning
00:24and is expected to face a New South Wales court later today. It will be alleged the man was a
00:31member
00:31of the ADF when he was involved in the death of Afghan nationals between 2009 and 2012 in circumstances
00:39that constitute war crimes under the Commonwealth Criminal Code. The offence of war crime murder
00:45carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. It will be alleged the victims were not taking part
00:53in hostilities at the time of their alleged murder in Afghanistan. It will be alleged the victims
01:00were detained, unarmed and were under the control of ADF members when they were killed. It will be
01:08alleged the victims were shot by the accused or shot by subordinate members of the ADF in the presence
01:15of and acting on the orders of the accused. The alleged conduct related to these charges is
01:23confined to a very small section of our trusted and respected ADF which helps keep this country safe.
01:32The overwhelming majority of our ADF do our country proud. Today's charges are not reflective of the
01:40majority members who serve under our Australian flag with honour, with distinction and with the values of a democratic nation.
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