“That’s not a cliff”: Ben Roberts-Smith downplays fresh allegations in court
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The case between Ben Roberts-Smith and <em>The Age</em>, <em>The Sydney Morning Herald</em>, and <em>The Canberra Times</em> newspapers, as well as several journalists, has recommenced, with an Afghan villager currently testifying.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The man has told the court a radio device was planted on the farmer’s dead body the day he was allegedly killed.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The claim ties into the central allegation that the war veteran kicked a handcuffed, unarmed famer named Ali Jan over a cliff during a September 2012 mission.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Nine Entertainment Co, the publisher of two of the papers, alleges Mr Roberts-Smith made an agreement with Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) colleagues to execute Ali Jan, which the soldiers then attempted to cover up.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mr Roberts-Smith has denied all wrongdoing and previously recalled in court that he encountered a suspected Taliban spotter in Darwan who was legitimately engaged and killed.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mohammad Hanifa, who says he is Ali Jan’s step-nephew, told Sydney’s Federal Court through an interpreter and via video link that he and Ali Jan were interrogated and beaten up by soldiers during a raid on the village.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He said one soldier told him to “shut up” and pointed a pistol at his forehead after he denied being a Taliban member.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mr Hanifa said there was an interpreter with the group and described one of the men as a “big soldier” with “blue eyes”, who punched him “many times”.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He said he warned Ali Jan not to laugh or smile, and that he saw Ali Jan “kicked really hard” by the big soldier after Ali Jan smiled again.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“He was rolling down, rolling down, until he reached the river,” Mr Hanifa said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The soldier was looking at him, he was standing there and looking at him.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He said he then heard a shot and saw two soldiers “dragging” Ali Jan.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When the witness was shown a photograph of the dead man, he identified the man as Ali Jan and became animated when he saw a device in the photo.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“These other things, the bag and the other device, they were not there,” he said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“They have put these things on his body.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Barrister Nicholas Owens SC, who is representing Nine, asked the witness whether he had seen Ali Jan carrying a radio that day.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“By God, by God, he had nothing with him,” Mr Hanifa replied.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Earlier, Mr Hanifa said the farmer was not connected to the Taliban.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“He was providing for his children and he was protecting his family and his property.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The trial had been on hold for a month due to Sydney’s COVID-19 outbreak, but has since resumed after concerns were raised regarding the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan which could make it difficult to hear from Afghan witnesses.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mr Hanifa’s testimony comes as </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Sydney Morning Herald </span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">and </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Age</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> revealed an image of Mr Roberts-Smith which was altered by the Department of Defence.</span></p>
<p><img style="width: 335px; height: 223px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7842683/7ab17256de68be9cbd6e333ff20fcb433ddc0944.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/2e9957241a6b46a6a632eda515190197" /></p>
<p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: ADF</span></em></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The photo, released in early 2011, shows Mr Roberts-Smith wearing a blank patch on the front of his uniform.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The newspapers allege they have obtained the original photo, taken on April 6 2010, which shows Mr Roberts-Smith wearing the Crusader’s Cross.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Crusader’s Cross symbol dates back to the Crusades in the Middle East during the 11th and 12 centuries.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Many Muslims find the symbol offensive, especially when it is displayed by western soldiers in their country.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">EDITOR’S UPDATE</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">While under cross-examination by Bruce McClintock SC, Mr Roberts-Smith’s barrister, the farmer agreed that he referred to the soldiers who had conducted the raids on the villages as infidels.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mr McClintock asked whether Mr Hanifa “hated” the soldiers.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“If they are coming to our houses, go inside to our women, of course that’s what you call them - infidels,” the witness said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mr McClintock also accused Mr Hanifa on several occasions of lying to the court, including his description of the uniform of the “big soldier”, which he described as wet and sandy. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The court had previously heard Mr Roberts-Smith had swum across a river to catch a suspected Taliban member prior to the raid.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The evidence you’ve given about seeing the big soldier wet is completely untrue, isn’t it?” Mr McClintock asked.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Whether you call it a lie that’s up to you, but I have seen this person with my own eyes,” Mr Hanifa replied.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Key images of the “cliff” from which Ali Jan is alleged to have been kicked have also been released to the public.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The photographs of Mr Hanifa’s village had been marked by Mr Roberts-Smith while he gave evidence several weeks earlier.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><img style="width: 500px; height: 199.41634241245137px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7842692/capture.png" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/c144cfe3755e4628938144e11a1abd37" /></span></p>
<p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Federal Court of Australia</span></em></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">One of the locations, marked as point “B” on the photograph, is a source of contention, with Mr Roberts-Smith saying it represented a rooftop where his squad waited for extraction after the mission, whereas Nine claim it represents the area where Ali Jan was kicked into the creek bed.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">While looking at photographs and images showing a steep embankment down into the creek, the veteran told the court: “A cliff is a cliff - and that’s not a cliff to me.”</span></p>
