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Australia's most decorated soldier arrested on war crimes allegations

Australia's most decorated living soldier was arrested on Tuesday and 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 Defense Force (ADF) member and media named as Ben Roberts-Smith, was arrested at Sydney Airport on Tuesday morning. He will be charged with five counts of war crimes in connection to the murder of five people in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012, Australian Federal Police said. The maximum penalty for each charge is life imprisonment. Roberts-Smith was hailed as a national hero after being awarded several top military honors, including the Victoria Cross, for his actions during six tours of Afghanistan from 2006 to 2012.

ABC / UK POOL VIA REUTERS

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Transcript
00:00Good afternoon. A former Australian Defence Force member has today been arrested and will be charged
00:06with five counts of war crime murder after a joint investigation between the Office of the Special
00:12Investigator and the AFP. The former soldier was arrested at Sydney's domestic airport this morning
00:19and is expected to face a New South Wales court later today. It will be alleged the man was a
00:27member of the ADF when he was involved in the death of Afghan nationals between 2009 and 2012
00:33in circumstances that constitute war crimes under the Commonwealth Criminal Code. The offence of war
00:41crime murder carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. It will be alleged the victims
00:48were not taking part in hostilities at the time of their alleged murder in Afghanistan. It will be
00:55alleged the victims were detained, unarmed and were under the control of ADF members when they
01:02were killed. It will be alleged the victims were shot by the accused or shot by subordinate members
01:09of the ADF in the presence of and acting on the orders of the accused. The alleged conduct related
01:18to these charges is confined to a very small section of our trusted and respected ADF which helps keep
01:26this country safe. The overwhelming majority of our ADF do our country proud. Today's charges are not
01:35reflective of the majority members who serve under our Australian flag with honour, with distinction and
01:43with the values of a democratic nation.
01:47Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith.
01:53Very nice to see you again.
01:57I actually, I didn't realize you were going to be here.
02:23I didn't realize you were going to be here.
02:44You
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