Australian war hero appeals court decision that blamed him for unlawful killings in Afghanistan

By ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s most decorated living war veteran has lodged an appeal against a civil court ruling that blamed him for the unlawful killings of four Afghans. Ben Roberts-Smith retired from Australia’s elite Special Air Service Regiment a decade ago. He lost a landmark defamation suit on June 1 against newspapers that had accused him of an array of war crimes. The Federal Court confirmed that the 44-year-old recipient of the revered Victorian Cross for gallantry in Afghanistan filed an appeal with the court on Tuesday. Roberts-Smith has been fighting to salvage his reputation through a defamation suit in the court since Australian newspaper articles in 2018 accused him of an array of war crimes including culpability in six unlawful killings.