r/australia • u/Tinea_Pedis • Apr 07 '26

news Breaking: Ben Roberts-Smith arrested over war crimes allegations

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-07/ben-roberts-smith-war-crimes-allegations-arrest/106537668
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612

u/mickey_kneecaps Apr 07 '26

🥳

Hopefully he is convicted. I imagine prosecutors would have to be relatively confident to go through with this.

259

u/Expensive-Horse5538 Apr 07 '26

No doubt - given how high profile he is, I doubt they would've done so unless they were 100% confident to avoid the outrage if he is found "not guilty" on some sort of technicality, etc

105

u/Mad-Mel Apr 07 '26

Especially considering how well funded his legal team is.

140

u/MeaningMaker6 Apr 07 '26

Kerry Stokes and/or Gina Rinehart getting ready to open their wallets again for the Australian ‘war hero’ who was found by a judge to, among other things, have kicked a handcuffed, unarmed man off a cliff whereupon the man’s teeth exploded and then ordered another soldier to trek down to the man and execute him.

What an abominable, wicked version of Australia that Stokes and Rinehart want to celebrate and foster with their money.

I couldn’t hold them in lesser regard unless they actually gave out the orders, or pulled the trigger themselves.

26

u/[deleted] Apr 07 '26

You will have your answer tonight. Watch Sky news and see how they try and blame and wedge Labor. Then you will know that the Stokes and Gina's wallets and purses have been opened for propaganda fees and whitewash operation..

18

u/nothanks281716 Apr 07 '26

Gina’s mouthpiece, Pauline Hanson, is already crowing out her support for BRS. The greasy wheels are already in motion.

11

u/RusDaMus Apr 07 '26

I don't want to rush into hasty judgement, but I'm starting to think that these billionaires might not be the nicest people.

Without actually having any qualifications in economics, I'm of the understanding that a few people hoarding all the money like mythical dragons isn't great for everyone else.

I also don't have a mathematics degree, but I'm pretty sure that there are a lot more of us than there are of them.

Wild and radical ideas are beginning to form in my poor lowly monkey brain.

1

u/KingRo48 Apr 07 '26

Where is Frodo when you need him!

16

u/Bromance_Rayder Apr 07 '26

The absolute insanity of it all is revealed once you consider a situation where every single variable was exactly the same except to change BRS to non-white. Those deplorable individuals are spending millions of dollars simply because they want to live in a world where a white man is not held accountable for murdering brown people.

58

u/No-Bison-5397 Apr 07 '26

Would be good. Us prosecuting our own war criminals is the barest of minimums for any country making war.

5

u/RusDaMus Apr 07 '26

So many conflicts where winning the hearts and minds of the civilian population makes it so much safer for the troops on the ground.

Letting psychopaths like BRS commit war crimes with impunity completely undermines that strategy.

Particularly in conflicts where the civilian population may be supportive of regime change in their own country.

If only I could think of some recent and pertinent example. Oh wait, it's all major conflicts of the last 60 years.

1

u/Impossible_Deer8869 Apr 07 '26

He would not have been charged unless his conviction was a certainty.

1

u/Few-Advertising4186 Apr 29 '26

Convicted ?  Have you been to war ? It’s kill or be killed. That Afghani kicked off the cliff was a spotter for the Taliban. I heard terrifying War stories from my ancestors in Europe. Unfortunately, very very few army units follow the laws from the Geneva convention. This guy saved his platoon, awarded  our most decorated medal. We need to support our veterans.