Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith has given a two-hour interview about the murder allegations against him, his military service and the controversy surrounding the SAS, in an unusually direct media appearance by a defendant in a high-profile criminal case.
The former Special Air Service corporal recorded the interview with Sydney radio presenter Ben Fordham at the 4BC studios in Brisbane last week, a source said. No part of the discussion was off the record.
Extracts are due to be broadcast over several days next week across the Tapt Media network, including 2GB in Sydney, 3AW in Melbourne and 6PR in Perth. Tapt also plans to publish a full video recording on YouTube.
The interview is understood to cover the charges against Mr Roberts-Smith, his arrest in front of his family on April 7 and the Brereton Inquiry into alleged war crimes.
It also addresses divisions within the SAS over the allegations, the deaths of friends during the war and the battle for which Mr Roberts-Smith received Australia’s highest award for bravery.
Mr Roberts-Smith has denied allegations that he ordered prisoners to be executed in Afghanistan and killed some himself. The charges remain in the New South Wales Local Court system and are expected to take years to reach trial.
Any comments he made during the interview could be used by prosecutors in court, underlining the risks of speaking at length about an ongoing criminal case.
The decision appears to form part of a public relations campaign aimed at presenting Mr Roberts-Smith as a good person who risked his life while serving in an elite unit fighting the Taliban insurgency, as well as influencing potential jurors.
Roberts-Smith appears at veterans’ events
The interview was recorded as Mr Roberts-Smith continued to appear publicly. On Sunday, he attended a commemoration at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra marking the 25th anniversary of the start of the war.
After the ceremony, he spoke to journalists and posed for photographs with members of the public, including Phillip Thompson, the shadow minister for defence personnel.
He appeared the following day at the opening of apartments in Brisbane bought by businesswoman Gina Rinehart for military veterans who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Daniel Keighran, one of the four living Australian Victoria Cross recipients, also attended.
In court, Mr Roberts-Smith’s lead lawyer, Karen Espiner, is challenging a prosecution request to keep secret the identities of 42 important potential witnesses.
Keith Payne, Australia’s oldest living Victoria Cross recipient, told The Australian in 2024 that he felt sorry for Mr Roberts-Smith and said: “What happens in war, stays in war.”
A recent survey found that Mr Roberts-Smith was particularly popular among One Nation supporters. The party has proposed changing the law to make it more difficult to prosecute alleged war crimes.
