Key witness arrested in Ben Roberts-Smith trial
A key witness in the defamation trial of Ben Roberts-Smith has been arrested.
The former Special Air Service soldier, who has been known as Person X through the legal proceedings, was approached by detectives hours after he finished giving evidence on Tuesday afternoon.
He was subsequently charged with obstructing/hindering/intimidating/resisting a Commonwealth official and causing harm to a law officer, and was granted bail the next day.
He will be permitted to return to his home overseas until he is next required in court.
Person X spent three days giving evidence in support of Roberts-Smith, who is suing The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Canberra Times over articles that he claims portray him as a war criminal and murderer.
Person X was stationed with Roberts-Smith during a 2009 mission at a village compound, when the newspapers allege that two Afghan men were pulled from a tunnel and killed by SAS troops, contrary to the rules of war that prohibit the killing of unarmed prisoners.
Roberts-Smith is alleged to have directed a junior soldier, known as Person 4, to execute one of the men, on the orders of Person X, and to have shot the other one himself.
One SAS soldier who testified for the newspapers, known as Person 14, said that after the mission was over, he heard Person X say, “I finally blooded the rookie”.
Another soldier who testified for the newspapers, known as Person 24, told the court that he saw Roberts-Smith drop the other detainee to the ground and shoot him in the back, in what he interpreted as an “exhibition execution”.
The prosecution did not oppose bail and Person X’s matter will return to court on June 21st.
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